Chapter 1: The Mysterious Albino
It was the summer of 1998.
At the time, Luo San was just a freshman at Chengdu University, and to pass the time between classes, he joined the University Paranormal Society, an underground club that had existed at the university for many years and aimed to uncover the truth behind all unusual events. That afternoon, Luo San hurried to the Arts Building in the eastern part of the university as instructed by the club’s instructor, Shi Wuji.
Shi Wuji has been acting very strangely these past few days. During Society meetings, he often seems to be in a daze and talks to himself about Chengdu. Shi Wuji told Luo San and Shen Yuan to go to the Arts Building and emphasised that they must not mention it to anyone else.
‘Have you finished?‘
’As planned.‘
’How is it going at the Sea Eye?”
Luo San suddenly heard the two men talking, and looked up, only to see two albinos in front of him: their hair was silver-white, their skin was white with a reddish tinge, and their eyes were a pale green.
As soon as they saw Luo San, the two lowered their heads warily and walked quickly away.
The reason Luo San was so concerned about the two albinos’ incoherent words was because there were so many albinos at S University. You could see them walking in groups of three or five at any time on campus, and these albinos were different from ordinary albino patients.
Albinism is a genetic disease characterised by a lack of pigment in the skin and its appendages. Patients usually have a lack of melanin in the skin, hair and eyes, which is why their eyes appear to have no pigment in the retina, with the iris and pupil appearing pale pink. They are sensitive to light and always squint when looking at things. The albinos at S University are not at all sensitive to light, but their eyes are a pale green.
Luo San, a member of the Society for the Investigation of the Occult, investigated the background of these albinos and was shocked to learn that they were all from Wuyishan City in Fujian Province.
Wuyishan is only 60 kilometres from Luo San’s hometown of Jianyang City in Fujian Province, so he is no stranger to the place, but he didn’t expect there to be so many albinos there.
For this reason, Luo San once proposed to Shi Wuji to investigate the albinos, but was rejected by Shi Wuji on the grounds that: I will let you investigate a shocking major event in a few days, and put aside these minor matters of the albinos for now.
As for what the shocking major event is, Shi Wuji is tight-lipped.
‘Hey, you two students in front, quickly help stop that dog.’ Hearing a sudden shout from behind, Luo San turned his head and saw a dog running in the direction where he was standing, with a bone in its mouth. A police officer was right behind it, shouting at the two albinos as he chased them.
The two albinos were walking side by side, but when they heard the policeman shout, instead of stopping the stray dog, they immediately moved to either side, allowing the dog to pass between them and come to Luo San. Luo San didn’t think twice, but stood in front of the dog. The stray dog saw someone blocking its path and immediately charged diagonally into the bushes. It managed to get past, but the bone in its mouth fell off.
It was a human thigh bone, the surface muscles and skin had been completely removed, and there were numerous cracks on the sides, with bamboo skewers stuck in between.
Luo San was about to crouch down to take a closer look when the police arrived and bent down to pick up the bone.
‘How did this thing get discovered by the police?’
“Be careful, don’t talk about this here.’
Luo San vaguely heard the two albinos talking, and his doubts grew. At that moment, a voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts: ‘Xiaosan, why are you here?’
Luo San turned his head and saw that the person asking was Yan Qingbo, a member of the Society. He graduated and became a police officer, but has always participated in the activities of the Society. He obviously came for the bone, so after listening to Luo San’s reply that he was going to the Arts Building to do something, he didn’t say anything else and looked down at the bone.
‘The bone has been boiled and smashed with a hard object. What are these bamboo skewers for?‘ the policeman asked Yan Qingbo.
’I don’t know, it’s probably related to the case. Never mind, let’s collect this bone and the ones we found by the Funan River earlier, and take them back for testing.‘
’If I’m not wrong, these bones should be…’
‘Okay, let’s go.‘ Yan Qingbo suddenly interrupted the man and turned to Luo San and said, “Xiaosan, you go ahead. We’ll be in touch.” He then gave Luo San a wink.
’What the hell is going on?’ Luo San was still thinking about what had just happened, but he had already walked in front of the Arts Building.
Unintentionally, Luo San bumped into someone. This person was Shen Yuan. Perhaps she had walked too quickly, her cheeks were flushed, and a few beads of sweat were hanging from the tip of her nose. She was a junior student and also a member of the school’s Paranormal Society. After reprimanding Luo San, the two got into the elevator.
As soon as they got out of the elevator, Luo San smelled a bloody smell. Just as he was surprised, Shen Yuan’s face suddenly turned pale, and her footsteps inexplicably quickened. In the long corridor, the only sound was the sound of their footsteps.
The source of the blood smell was the meeting room of the school’s paranormal society.
Standing at the closed meeting room door, Luo San quickly glanced at the meeting room. The door was closed, and three yellow papers were stuck on the lintel. There were a few strange red patterns drawn on those yellow papers, and the patterns were drawn in blood, the colours were still quite bright, so it could be seen that they had just been drawn not long ago.
Luo San leaned over to look through the crack in the door, but saw that the room was in a mess, with what looked like blood on the floor, and he couldn’t see what was going on in the rest of the room.
A few minutes later, the police rushed over, and Yan Qingbo was among them. He didn’t have time to greet the two of them, and just glanced at the lintel of the meeting room before his face immediately changed. He turned to one of the policemen and whispered, ‘Boss, it’s another yellow paper case.’
‘What? Are you sure?’
“Of course.’
‘Hurry up! Break down the door!”
Although the two men’s voices were low, Luo San and Shen Yuan could still hear clearly what case had scared the two policemen so much.
The door was broken open, and Luo San almost couldn’t help vomiting just from one glance: the meeting room was in chaos, but it didn’t look like it was caused by a fight; the floor was covered in blood, and Shi Wuji’s entire body was soaked in it as well, in a strange position. His head was held high, his hands were tied behind his back, his feet were tied together and turned behind his back, and his entire body was face-down on the conference table. Luo San noticed that Shi Wuji’s legs were very strange, so soft that they seemed to have no bones in them. He was about to walk into the meeting room to take a closer look, but was stopped by the police and taken aside to make a statement. As he left, Luo San heard the captain muttering, ‘Another chicken. What conspiracy is there in this?’
After a long afternoon of trouble, Luo and Shen were finally able to leave. ‘I never thought that Professor Shi would die in such a tragic way.’ After walking out of the door of the Arts Building, Luo San took a few deep breaths and said, ‘I hope Yan Ge can solve the case soon and bring the murderer to justice.’
“Relying on them is useless. Didn’t you hear them say that this is a series of cases? If they had a clue, Professor Shi would still be alive. I think we should find Yan Qingbo and ask him in detail.’
Yan Qingbo arrived in the evening. He looked visibly exhausted and kept yawning when he saw Luo San and Shen Yuan. ‘If you want to ask me about Professor Shi, I’ll tell you the truth: Professor Shi’s case is not an isolated incident, but part of a serial murder case.’
The death of Shi Wumu was the seventh case in this series of serial murders. The earliest case occurred in May, and the victim was a retired cadre. That day, after receiving the police call, Yan Qingbo immediately rushed to the scene. From a distance away from the door, he could smell a strong bloody smell, and the several pieces of blood-stained yellow paper stuck on the lintel of the door told Yan Qingbo that this case was not simple.
Although he was mentally prepared before entering the door, Yan Qingbo couldn’t help but feel queasy in his stomach the moment he saw the dormitory. The scene was exactly the same as the scene where Shi Wuwei was killed today. What was even more shocking was that the victim’s throat had been cut, his chest cavity opened, and his arms and thighs cut open. Three ribs, two arm bones, and two thigh bones were removed, and the police have not been able to find them yet. Later, the autopsy by the forensic pathologist revealed that the fatal injury of the deceased was a knife wound to the throat. It seems that the murderer first cut the deceased’s throat and the carotid artery on the neck to drain the blood of the deceased, and then cut open the deceased’s chest, arms, and thighs to remove the bones, and finally smeared the blood on the body of the deceased.
Considering that none of the belongings in the victim’s home had been touched, and that the investigation had found that the victim had no enemies, the police initially concluded that some cult members were performing strange rituals, based on some unburned blood-stained yellow paper found at the scene and some blood-stained yellow paper found on the lintel of the victim’s home.
After this, five more murders occurred around S University. Although the victims were of different identities, they were all covered in blood when they died, in the same strange positions, and all had the same bones missing. Burnt yellow paper ash and yellow paper stained with the victim’s blood were also found at the scene.
Therefore, the police concluded that these cases were committed by the same person or group of people, and classified them as serial murders by a cult. From the information they had gathered, the victims had nothing in common, so it was difficult for the police to find the killer’s modus operandi, and they were at a loss as to how to solve the case.
“Something this bad has never happened in Chengdu before, so you must keep this confidential and be careful yourselves.’
‘Yan Ge, do you have any clues about the murderer? Have you found out what cult the ritual belongs to?‘ Luo San suddenly had a thought: Could this case be related to the albinos?
’Over the past period of time, we have looked at a lot of information, but we have never found a cult that could have held a ritual like this. By the way, this afternoon, we found a black rubbish bag by the Funan River containing three ribs, two arm bones and two thigh bones. We can be sure that they were taken from a dead person. But what’s strange is that, of all the bones, only the thigh bones have been carefully prepared. Not only has the flesh been neatly removed, they’ve also been boiled and skewered. The other bones are just as they were.’
‘Yan Ge, let me ask you something. Have you heard of the sea eye?‘
’Sea eye? I’ve heard of it.‘
’What is the sea eye?‘
’How should I put it? The sea eye is like a spring. Underground spring water rises to the surface through the spring, and the sea eye is the same. It is a channel for the sea water in the ocean to enter the ground.‘
’There can’t be a sea eye in Chengdu, can there?‘
’Legend has it that there is a sea eye in Chengdu. It is said that the sea eye is under a Buddha statue in Daci Temple in Chengdu. At night when it is quiet, if you put your ear to the top of the statue, you can hear the sound of waves from the bottom of the earth.‘
’Is this true?‘
’Of course it’s not true. It’s just a legend. Xiaosan, why did you suddenly ask this?‘
’Because I saw two strange people on the way to the Arts Building today.’ Luo San immediately told Shen Yuan and Yan Qingbo about the albinos he encountered.
After listening to him, Yan Qingbo said with a grave expression, ‘Xiaosan, those albinos must be related to the serial murders. It’s late today, so I’ll go find them tomorrow to investigate. It’s just that why did they mention the sea eye? Never mind, I don’t want to think about it. Tomorrow, when we find the albinos, the truth will become clear. You guys get some rest early. Shen Yuan, be careful when you go back.’
Chapter 2 Wuyi Province
After Yan Qingbo left, Shen Yuan did not go back, but stayed and exchanged relevant information with Luo San. Finally, he said to Luo San, ‘If you want to find out what cult is doing evil, the only way is to go to Professor Wu.’
Professor Wu is not surnamed Wu and is not a professor. But everyone at S University knows him. He is a legend at S University, an eternal campus myth. He wears only a T-shirt, shorts and slippers all year round, and only puts on a raincoat when it’s particularly cold. His hunched figure, carrying a thermos and clutching books, has become a symbol of S University.
Twenty years ago, Professor Wu came from the countryside of Ya’an to S University and became an auditing student. Over the past 20 years, he has taken all the courses from junior college, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, covering mathematics, English, Chinese, history, folklore, French and Russian. Studying has become his only life. Occasionally, he would help sweep the school cafeteria or work part-time in a restaurant, but only to earn a living. No one knows his purpose for entering S University, although he says his purpose is to study.
He is a mysterious character who seldom interacts with others, but he has become friends with Luo San.
In Professor Wu’s dormitory, Luo San briefly introduced the serial murder case. Professor Wu asked in return, ‘What do the victims have in common?’
‘Nothing.’
“That’s not right. You should ask your friends at the police station again. Are they all born in the year of the rooster?’
Luo San immediately called Yan Qingbo.
‘Yan Ge, let me ask you something: were all the victims of the serial murders born in the year of the rooster?’
‘How did you know?’
Luo San glanced at Professor Wu: ‘We have a genius.’
‘Where? I’ll be right over.’
Yan Qingbo arrived a few minutes later, and Professor Wu asked him about the crime scenes in person: ‘Then there’s no mistake, the victims were related to the chicken divination ritual!’
‘Chicken divination?’ Luo San and the others had never heard of it before. Professor Wu took out a few books from the shelf and explained as he showed them to the three men: “Chicken divination is an ancient primitive religious ritual commonly used by the Yue ethnic group in China, and it is still popular among some ethnic minorities. This article makes it very clear.”
A robust rooster is used, and the cockcomb must not be broken. The shaman holds the chicken in silence, paying respect to heaven and earth, offering sacrifices to the gods and enjoying the offerings, and praying for blessings. The chicken is then killed, and joss paper is dipped in its blood. The feathers from the chicken’s neck are removed and stuck to the paper with blood, which is then affixed to the shrine or lintel. When cooking the chicken, the feet are tied behind, the head raised, and the chicken posed as if it is about to fly. Two chopsticks are inserted into the back of the chicken to set the shape, and it is served on the altar after cooking. After the shaman has burnt the blood-soaked paper money, he pulls out the chicken’s thigh bone and scrapes off the fascia on it. He reveals the blood pore and inserts a sharpened bamboo skewer or cactus thorn into the pore in the direction of the pore. He then holds the two ends of the thigh bone with his index finger and thumb so that the inner arc of the thigh bone is pressed against it. The chicken bone and the skewer above it form a hexagram. Finally, the shaman inspects it again and again and gives an explanation.
‘There are at least four similarities between this serial murder case and the chicken divination. First, the posture is the same. Second, the deceased were all born in the year of the rooster, and although the chicken divination is slightly different, it also uses a chicken. Third, there was a lot of incense ash and paper ash at the crime scenes, and the chicken divination ritual also involves burning incense and praying. Finally, and most importantly, in the chicken divination ritual, the leg bone of the chicken has to be removed, and in several of the murders, the leg bones of the deceased were also removed.’
Professor Wu paused here and said, ‘I just don’t know what they’re trying to do.’
‘Is it related to the Sea Eye?’ Luo San kept thinking about the Sea Eye.
‘Sea Eye?’ Professor Wu’s face changed colour, but quickly returned to normal, ‘How is this related to the Sea Eye?’
Luo San immediately told Professor Wu about what happened in the afternoon.
“Wuyi Min? Why would they care about the Sea Eye?’
‘What did you say about Wuyi, Professor Wu?‘
’Wuyi Min, a branch of the Qimin tribe at the junction of the ancient provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi and Zhejiang. Later generations called them Wuyi Min because their area of activity was the Wuyishan area. Ancient Min people had the characteristics of ‘red hair, white skin, broken hair, tattoos and chiselled teeth’. Among them, ‘broken hair, tattoos and chiselled teeth’ are common characteristics of the peoples of southern China. However, the characteristics of ‘red hair and white skin’ were unique to the ancient Min people. Some scholars believe that the true ancient Min people had the characteristics of ‘white hair and red skin’, not ‘red hair and white skin’.
‘In other words, the group of albinos on campus are actually ancient Min people, and they can indeed be described as “white hair and red skin”.
’Well, not all ancient Min people had ‘white hair and red skin’. It should be a unique characteristic of the ‘Wuyi Min’ among the seven ancient Min tribes.’
‘Why?‘
’The Wuyishan Zhi from the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty records: The nobleman Peng Zu, also known as Lao Peng, lived in seclusion on this mountain, practising health preservation techniques and living to the age of 770. He had two sons, Peng Wu and Peng Yi, who also lived here. It is said that the mountain got its name from this. The leader of the Wuyi tribe was Peng Zu, who lived to the age of 800. Legend has it that at the end of the Shang Dynasty, Peng Zu and his two sons Peng Wu and Peng Yi retired to the famous mountains and clear waters of Fujian, living at the foot of Manting Peak, eating lingzhi and drinking from waterfalls, cultivating their health and leading their sons in developing the six-six strange peaks and three-three beautiful waters of Wuyi Mountain, driving away the tyranny of tigers and wolves, and driving the development of the entire Wuyi Mountain. Since Peng Zu and his sons developed Wuyi Mountain, later generations named the mountain Wuyi Mountain, and it has been used ever since. The Pingchuan Peng Family Genealogy of Wuyishan City also has a similar record.‘
’As long as Peng Zu’s ‘Wuyi Min’ is linked to the ancient Min people with ‘white hair and red skin’, everything will become clear. I suspect that it is precisely because Peng Zu had ‘white hair and red skin’ from young to old that people mistakenly thought that he was long-lived, and over time the story spread that Peng Zu was long-lived and lived to be 800 years old. And with the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Yue people moved south into northern Fujian, and the ancient Min people were driven out and assimilated. Perhaps a part of the Wuyi Min, hiding in the mountains, preserved a purer lineage, which is why there are more albinos in Wuyishan.‘
’Wait, Professor Wu, there’s a question,’ Shen Yuan interrupted, ’Didn’t you say that chicken divination was used by the ancient Yue people? How could the Wuyi Min adopt it?’
‘Chicken divination was indeed a method used by the ancient Baiyue people, and later, due to ethnic integration, it was used by most ethnic groups in South China, including some Han Chinese members.‘
’If it’s Wuyi Min, what did they come from Fujian to Chengdu for?‘ Shen Yuan asked.
’It must be the Eye of the Sea,‘ Luo San answered.
’Xiaosan, the Eye of the Sea is just a legend,’ Professor Wu said.
‘But I clearly heard them mention the sea eye today.‘
’Then it might just be their code name for an operation.‘
The two were about to argue some more when they heard Yan Qingbo whisper, “I wonder if it has anything to do with this pattern?”
’What pattern…’ Professor Wu’s question was interrupted by a ringing mobile phone. He glared at the owner of the phone, Shen Yuan, with displeasure. At that time, mobile phones were not yet common, and most people used pagers. Shen Yuan was one of the few people who used mobile phones.
Shen Yuan answered the phone and listened in disbelief.
‘Girl? Who was that?’
‘It was Professor Shi.’
‘How is that possible?’
“It really was his voice. I haven’t hung up yet, listen.’
It was indeed Shi Wumu’s voice on the other end of the line, but the voice seemed to come from hell, and there were just two words repeated over and over again: Chengdu.
‘Chengdu?’ Professor Wu frowned and said, ‘What did this son of a bitch want to say?’
‘This should be the key to the matter that Professor Shi wanted us to investigate, and it must be related to Professor Shi’s death. In the last few days before he died, Professor Shi kept saying the words “Chengdu” over and over again,’ Shen Yuan asserted.
‘What’s the phone number? Call it back quickly,‘ Yan Qingbo reminded.
Shen Yuan called back as instructed, but all he heard was: The number you have dialed is a disconnected number.
’I’ll go back to the office immediately and ask someone to check. I’ll come back if there’s any news.”
Yan Qingbo wrote down the number and hurriedly left, leaving Luo San and the others looking at each other.
Chapter 3 The Red Helmet
A mist from nowhere had enveloped the campus. There was no mist in summer, but this summer in Chengdu was foggy from time to time. It wasn’t heavy, and it dispersed as soon as the sun came out in the daytime. It was just that at night, everything looked so hazy and eerie.
On this strange night, eerie music was playing in a dorm room on the first floor of the new dormitory in the east district of S University. A voice was telling the ghost story ‘Red Vest’ that had been circulating at S University for a long time. The voice belonged to a cassette tape. It was dark in the dormitory, and the girls were hiding under the covers, shivering and holding the covers tightly while listening to the ghost story with bated breath.
The Red Riding Hood is a ghost story about the Si Da Si Jiao. Si Da Si Jiao was divided into the East and West Districts at the time. The East District had four teaching buildings, and Si Da Si Jiao was the oldest and most haunted of them all. Built during the War of Resistance Against Japan, the building was surrounded by hundreds of tall trees, enveloped in a green canopy that kept the place cool no matter the time of year. The teaching building has four floors, all with wooden floors painted red, which creak and groan underfoot. Together with the long corridors, the dim lighting and the high ceilings, the building gives off a creepy, eerie feeling. The always locked attic on the fourth floor and the never opened women’s toilet on the first floor add to the spooky atmosphere, making it the source of all ghost stories. One of the most notable ghost stories is the Red Vest:
Xiao Jing had just started at the university and was in her first year. You know, university starts in September, so it was still very hot. So Xiao Jing chose to go to the very cool Sijiao Building to study. She chose a small classroom on the fourth floor that could only accommodate a few people. The classroom was empty, with just a few tables and chairs, and on the blackboard at the front of the room were a few large, cursive characters left over from the previous class. In the quiet classroom, no one disturbed her, and Xiao Jing gradually immersed herself in her studies. After an unknown period of time, she suddenly felt like going to the toilet. Unexpectedly, the toilets on the second to fourth floors of the entire teaching building were all full, so she had to go to a female toilet on the first floor. As soon as she entered the cubicle, she heard a noise outside the wooden door. A strange voice drifted into the toilet: ‘Red vest… red vest… do you want a red vest?’ Jing thought it was a prank by a classmate to scare her, so she didn’t look and just said, ‘Sure, give me one!’ The voice outside laughed, ‘Hey, are you sure?’ Jing was even more certain that it was a joke after hearing this. ‘Okay! I’ll give you…’ After that, there was no more sound. Xiao Jing couldn’t help but feel a sudden wave of panic at this situation. As soon as she left the toilet, she quickly got up and went back to the dormitory. As she passed by the large classrooms, she noticed that they were still full of people at this time of day, but there seemed to be a deathly pallor on everyone’s faces. The whole classroom was quiet, except for the occasional rustle of pens scratching on paper and the sound of insects chirping outside the window. Even though Xiao Jing was not afraid, she still felt a chill, and quickly walked out of the fourth teaching building…
The next day, after her classmates woke up, they saw that Xiao Jing was still asleep in bed. They went to her bedside to call her, and when they lifted the quilt, they saw only a pool of blood. Later, the school authorities found Xiao Jing’s body in the women’s toilet on the first floor of Si Jiao, but Xiao Jing was bright red all over, and the skin on her upper body was gone, as if she were wearing a red vest.
After this, many more students died in strange ways, so the school authorities had to invite a master to come and seal off the women’s toilets where Xiao Jing had died and the entire attic floor of the fourth teaching building, and paint the floor of the fourth teaching building red… So I advise everyone, if you hear someone selling red vests in the fourth teaching building, don’t ever agree to it!
The sound of the tape cut off abruptly at this point, and there was dead silence in the dormitory. After a long while, someone asked in a small voice, ‘Is this true? The women’s toilets and the attic in the fourth teaching building are really always closed, and the floor is also red.’
‘The fourth teaching building is very problematic. I also heard that something big happened when this teaching building was built?’
‘What big thing?’
‘It is said that many people died. As for what happened, I don’t know.’
‘You guys, do you feel the temperature suddenly drop.’
“Don’t scare me.’
‘She’s telling the truth, I feel the temperature drop too.‘
’No way, is it really that spooky?‘
’Don’t be paranoid, it’s just the window that’s open.”
Everyone looked out onto the balcony, and indeed, in the light of the street lamp, they saw the curtains, which had been tightly closed against the window, now flapping. A gust of cold wind blew in, along with the curtains, and a nauseating fishy smell seemed to fill the air.
‘Xiao Liu, go close the window.‘
’Yes, you’re brave, and you were the one who noticed that the window was open.”
Xiao Liu, whose full name is Liu Fufeng, is a member of the school’s paranormal society and has always been brave. At this time, because everyone was urging her, she walked to the window, but saw that one of the windows was already wide open, and there was something on the windowsill that looked like a towel. Liu Fufeng picked it up casually. The sensation in her fingertips was quite strange: it didn’t seem to be a piece of cloth, the surface was very slippery, and there was also a very viscous liquid that felt unpleasant on her fingers.
Acting on curiosity, she unfolded the object. A bloody smell hit her face. With the help of the dim yellow streetlight, Liu Fufeng finally got a good look at the object: it was a piece of human skin.
In Professor Wu’s dormitory, Yan Qingbo was telling everyone what he had learned: ‘That number doesn’t exist at all, I don’t know how it came through. And I went back to look at Professor Shi’s body again, and I can conclude that it must be him. Damn, if I weren’t an atheist, I think this must be a ghost…’
Just as he was saying this, his phone rang again.
‘Something happened in the new dormitory.’ After hanging up the phone, Yan Qingbo ran outside.
Luo San and the others also chased after him.
After Yan Qingbo had revealed his identity, the dormitory manager immediately took them to the dormitory where the incident had occurred.
In the dormitory, Liu Fufeng was alone, holding a human skin in his hands.
‘Liu, what happened?’ Yan Qingbo asked.
‘Nothing, just a prank, someone put a human skin on our windowsill.’
“A human skin on your windowsill is no big deal? Liu, I know you’re brave, but this is not the time to be brave…’
Luo San did not wait for Yan Qingbo to continue, and reached out to grab the human skin.
It was a skin peeled from the upper body of a person, intact from the neck to the waist, except for the arms, like a piece of clothing.
Looking at the human skin in front of him, Luo San could not help but think of the scene he saw in the Arts Building this afternoon. The murderer in both cases was equally ruthless, except that the skin peeler in front of him was even more ruthless than the serial killer.
‘Professor Wu, what do you think? Could this be another incident caused by a cult?‘ Yan Qingbo asked.
Professor Wu shook his head, pondered for a long time, and then slowly said, “Red Riding Hood.”
’Red Riding Hood?‘
’Yes, Red Riding Hood,’ Liu Fufeng said. ’Just now, the whole dormitory was listening to the tape about Red Riding Hood. I didn’t expect that as soon as we finished listening, I noticed that the window was open, so I got out of bed to close it. I found this on the balcony.’
‘This is it. After the murderer committed the crime, he took the human skin and tried to find a place to get rid of it. When he passed by your dormitory, he heard the tape of ‘Red Vest’ being played in the dormitory, so he simply threw the human skin onto your windowsill. It’s just that they killed someone and made so much trouble.
‘Maybe it’s the same as the serial murders, they want to obtain great powers. Never mind, let’s not talk about that now, we must act immediately.’ Luo San anxiously said to Yan Qingbo, ’Yan Ge, the albinos are the serial murderers, and it is very likely that they are responsible for this incident as well. We must act immediately and arrest them.’
‘Xiaosan, it’s the middle of the night, how am I going to arrest someone? How am I going to report to the leader? Ask him for someone? I know you’re anxious, but everything must be done according to procedure.’ Although Yan Qingbo said this, he still patted his chest and promised that as soon as he went to work tomorrow, he would ask the leader for instructions and try to take action as soon as possible.
Professor Wu then comforted Luo San: ’You can’t just arrest someone whenever you want. Xiaosan, calm down. Everyone should go home and get some sleep. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Okay, let’s go back first, Yan still has work to do.‘
As everyone was leaving, Liu Fufeng suddenly stopped Shen Yuan and asked, “I heard that something happened to Professor Shi?”
’Yes. Tomorrow at 9am sharp, in room 314 of Teaching Building 4, members of the Paranormal Society will gather to discuss Professor Shi’s death.’
The physics building at S University is an old building. Because of its grey-black exterior walls and dilapidated doors and windows, it always gives people a sense of gloom and horror, especially at night. The yellowish light, reflected in the surrounding lush green belt, adds an even more terrifying atmosphere. Even though there is a more than 10-metre-high statue of Chairman Mao made of white marble in front of the physics building, it cannot suppress people’s fear of the gloomy and terrifying atmosphere.
Luo San was distracted, so he was still walking aimlessly on campus and unknowingly arrived in front of the physics building. Tonight, in front of the physics building, the dim yellow light was as usual spilling onto the road in front of the building. The willows along the road dragged long, dark shadows, and their thin branches, like ghostly hands, shook in the wind from time to time, casting streaks of black silk on the ground. In front of the Chairman’s statue, everything was dim and yellow.
A shrill cry pierced the silent night sky. Amidst the cry, a white figure dashed out of the bushes next to the lotus pond like an arrow, and pounced onto the white stone platform in front of the chairman’s portrait. Following the figure of the white animal, Luo San saw that there was a person wearing a bright red shirt on the stone platform. Everything in front of him gave Luo San an ominous feeling.
The white figure was a white fox. It was beside the man in front of the Chairman’s portrait, spinning around non-stop. Suddenly, it turned its head sharply, glanced at the distant Sijiao, and a flash of alarm crossed its yellow eyes. It quickly sprang to its feet and ran off into the distance.
Almost as soon as the white fox’s figure disappeared, two dark shadows came running quickly from in front of Sijiao and stopped quietly in front of the Chairman’s portrait. They were two middle-aged men.
‘Over here!’ The red-clad figure in front of the chairman’s statue obviously caught the attention of the two men. The taller of the two looked at the red-clad figure and said, “He’s dead.” The shorter man also leaned down and intently observed the red-clad figure. After a while, the shorter man looked up and said, ’What a brilliant technique. There were no wounds on his body before he died. The skin was peeled off after death, but I don’t know what method was used.’
‘My lord, who on earth would dare to do such a thing under the jurisdiction of the Great Tang Empire?”
Luo San was taken aback when he suddenly heard these words. The title “my lord” had disappeared from China almost a hundred years ago. While Luo San was still in a state of shock, he heard the short man say, “I don’t understand yet.”
The short man said this, bent over the corpse to continue observing it, and at the same time began searching the body. In a moment, Luo San saw that the man seemed to have found a wallet or something.
‘So his name is Luo Tian! A student from the History Department of the School of History and Culture, Class of 1997, University of S. Sir, this student’s student ID card says his ID number starts with 3521. Which province is that?‘ The tall man suddenly asked with a puzzled look on his face.
’It should be Jianzhou, I think. The student ID card says the starting point for the train ticket is from Chengdu to Wuyishan. Wuyishan is under the jurisdiction of the Jianzhou prefect.’
The prefect of Jianzhou? Luo San suddenly felt his head wasn’t working well enough. Who were these two people?
‘I think this student is very strange,’ the short man said, staring at the corpse.
‘Why is he strange?’
‘His appearance.’
‘His appearance is indeed strange, but with due respect, that should just be a disease and doesn’t mean anything.’
The short man didn’t say anything else, but seemed to be lost in thought. After a long while, he spoke up: ‘It’s not just a disease. You should also notice that his surname is Luo. More importantly, judging from his smart appearance, he obviously wasn’t just wandering around the campus, and it’s even less likely that he was a student finishing his self-study. He must have come here for some purpose.’ The little man said this, and suddenly fixed his gaze on the pile of clothes next to the corpse, and began to search it again carefully. ‘Ding!’ A metal object fell from the clothes. The little man bent down to pick it up, and his face became extremely serious.
‘My lord, forgive my ignorance, but what’s the problem?‘
’This is a snake! You’ve forgotten, 57 years ago, during the incident, Li Zhi Ming, the head of the Qionglai Daoyin Sect, had a divination that said 57 years later, someone from the southeast would come, and it’s almost 57 years now.‘
’Are you saying that this student Luo Tian is the ‘guest’ Li Zhi Ming was talking about?‘
’Maybe. At the time, the late emperor probably meant someone from the southeast would intervene at the right time. In fact, there have been many people like him at the university over the years. This is enough to show that Li Zhi Ming’s words have come true, that the ‘guest’ has already arrived at S University and intervened. The snake on the necklace is a rare species that is said to exist only in legend. It has always been revered as a sacred object and totem in the southeast region of Wuyi Min. This kid comes from Wuyi Mountain and has this necklace, so he must be a member of Wuyi Min. This matter is of great importance, and we must report it to the Governor immediately.‘
The short man said, looking up and returning his gaze to the corpse. The corpse’s left hand, clenched into a tight fist, caught his attention.
’Wu Sima, it looks like there’s something in his hand. Maybe there’s a clue.’ The tall man, called Wu Sima, immediately switched on the small flashlight in his hand, but the corpse’s left hand was clenched so tightly that, despite his best efforts, he could not open it.
‘My lord, I am incompetent.‘
’This matter is too important to allow disrespect for the corpse.’ The short man felt for a knife on his person, raised it high and chopped down hard. But just as the knife was about to strike the corpse’s left hand, the short man’s hand suddenly stopped, and his body tilted, falling to the ground.
The Wu Sima on the side was stunned by the scene in front of him, and hurriedly walked over, helped up the short man, and anxiously asked, ’Prefect, what happened?’
‘My neck… seems to have been bitten by some kind of poisonous creature. I feel weak all over. You… you must chop off that hand and take me back.‘
’Yes, sir.’ Wu Sima immediately raised his knife and tried to chop at the corpse, but suddenly, as if he had seen a ghost, he stopped and cried out in alarm, ’Sir! There’s a snake on the corpse!’
The short man, who was called the Prefect, looked up at the corpse and the snake on it with a start, then gasped and said urgently, ‘Quick, take me back. This is a specially trained five-footed snake.’
Wu Si Ma picked up the short man and backed up carefully, stepping out a long way before he dared to run.
Seeing that the two had gone far away, Luo San walked up to them. He was dumbfounded by the scene before him and stood there in shock.
On the stone platform in front of the chairman’s portrait was the corpse, with white hair all over his head and skin as white as paper, but with a peaceful smile on his face. From the arm up, the entire upper body was a deep red, the skin had been peeled off, and the pale flesh inside was soaked in blood, which was indescribably strange. From a distance, it looked just like the body was wearing a red vest. On the corpse’s chest, where the skin had been peeled away to reveal the blood-red muscles, a small snake was now sitting, its head raised high, facing Luo San. On the ground was the necklace that Wu Sima had not had time to take with him. The pendant was a small snake coiled up, spitting out its tongue, looking incredibly realistic. Unlike other snakes, this one looked particularly short, out of proportion to the size of its body, and had two horns growing from its forehead.
Luo San was afraid of startling the snake, and like Wu Sima, he slowly backed away.
In front of the phone booth, Luo San dialed Yan Qingbo’s mobile phone: ‘Brother Yan, I found out where the human skin was peeled from.’
Chapter 4: The Three Strange Cases
It was just after 9am. As requested by Shen Yuan, the members of the school’s Paranormal Society gathered in the fourth teaching building. After learning about the murder of Professor Shi, Luo San briefed everyone on what he had witnessed the night before: ‘Yan Ge said that the victim was skinned alive.’
‘Ah!’ There was a burst of shocked voices in the classroom.
‘Who is the murderer?’ Shen Yuan was most concerned about this.
“At the moment, there are no clues.’
‘Right, Xiaosan, didn’t you say last night that you wanted Yan Ge to investigate the albinos? Now he can use this case to investigate the albinos thoroughly.‘
’It’s too late. The albinos have disappeared.”
This morning, when the police investigated the “albinos” on campus, they found that the “albinos” on and around the campus seemed to have disappeared overnight. Some roommates only knew that in the middle of the night, their roommates suddenly got up to pack a few simple things and then left.
‘Why did they leave? If we can’t find them, then our clues are completely gone, aren’t they?‘ The one speaking was He Wangyu, a member of the school’s paranormal society, a junior at S University, from Yibin, and a clean-looking, gentle person.
’They haven’t gone. I accidentally heard a lot of things last night,‘ said Luo San, and then told everyone what he had heard in front of the chairman’s statue last night.
’The Great Tang Empire? How is that possible?’
‘What year is it? What ancient official positions are there?‘
’The Tang Dynasty is at least more than a thousand years ago, don’t tell me that the Tang imperial family still exists underground.‘
’Xiaosan, are you sure you heard it clearly?”
Luo San noticed that the only person in the group who did not interrupt was Shen Yuan. She kept pretending to be careless and carefully observed the people in the group. Mu Shigu’s face changed when it came to the mention of the Great Tang Empire. Mu Shigu, like Luo San, was a freshman at S University. He was from Jiangxi Province, and like his surname, he was quiet and reserved. Coupled with his short stature and dark skin, he rarely attracted attention, and in the Paranormal Society, he was also one of those dispensable characters.
‘Last night, the two people from the Great Tang Empire also mentioned something else. They said that 57 years ago, Li Zhi Ming, the head of the Qionglai Dao Yin Sect, once said that 57 years later, a guest would come from the southeast. So they think that Luo Tian is that guest.”
Luo San glanced around and saw He Wangyu’s brow furrow slightly, and subconsciously clenched the pen in his hand. Luo San suddenly noticed that He Wangyu’s skin was rosy white, even whiter than the naturally fair-skinned women.
‘The guest comes from the southeast. This is really strange.‘ Nan Qingyi is also a freshman at S University, from Zhejiang, handsome and sunny, but a bit short.
’I wish I knew,’ Luo San sighed, “but I wonder if something happened at S University 57 years ago that would lead to such a prophecy.”
Nan Qingyi nodded and said, ’It’s possible. We can deduce that there is a huge secret hidden at S University.’
‘What secret?‘ Shen Yuan interrupted,
’I don’t know what the secret is yet. But it must be a very important secret. Think about it: the albino travelled thousands of miles to come to S University, and that person from the Tang Empire was still active at night on campus, not to mention the third party that caused the red vest incident. It would be strange if S University didn’t have a secret.’
‘That’s right. That’s what I think too, and the secret may be the Sea Eye, or at least related to it.‘ Luo San agreed, while presenting his own analysis.
’The most important thing for us is to find out this secret. Does anyone know anything about that incident 57 years ago?’ Nan Qingyi said, her gaze sweeping over the faces of the group.
Everyone present shook their heads.
‘Then we’ll have to go through the school archives. Liu Fufeng and He Wangyu go to the school library’s overdue newspapers reading room and look through the reports about S University from 57 years ago. Mu Shigu and I will go and ask the elderly people, Shen Yuan and Luo San, and you will go to the school archives. If you have no objections, let’s get started right away. At 3pm, we’ll meet here and compile all the clues we’ve collected to see what secrets we can find out.’
Everyone promised and turned around and left.
After everyone left, Shen Yuan said to Luo San with a serious expression, ‘We don’t need to worry about what happened 57 years ago for now. I believe these incidents are much more important than what happened 57 years ago.’
Shen Yuan took out three stacks of paper from his bag and said, ‘There are three incidents in total, and each one is quite strange.’
Luo San asked while taking the paper, ‘Why didn’t you tell us yesterday?’
‘Because I returned to the dormitory in the early morning and saw a letter on the bed, and the letter was these three stacks of paper.‘
’Who sent it?‘
’Professor Shi.‘
’Professor Shi again. He seems to have known long ago that he would be killed. Shen Yuan, I think there is something very strange about this.‘
’I naturally know this, but this is not the time to discuss it. You should first take a look at the information.”
The first stack of paper seems to have been copied from some notebook, and that notebook is clearly quite old. The handwriting on the paper is exquisite, and it is obviously from a woman’s hand. The paper reads:
Yi is called Wu Yingyu, and she is a native of Chengdu. I will tell you the story from Yi’s perspective. But when I first heard Yi’s story, I just thought she was trying to attract attention, because the story was really too strange to be believed. But looking at Yi’s expression, I gradually realised that what Yi was saying might be true. Because I understood that if she had not experienced the tragedy of losing her beloved in front of her eyes, she would not have been able to show that expression when telling the story.
Luo San understood after reading the first paragraph that this notebook should have been written by someone in the 1920s or 1930s, because the use of the word ‘she’ to refer to ‘she’ and the word ‘of’ to refer to ‘of’ were both significant signs of that time. After understanding this, Luo San continued reading:
Yidi’s home was in the southeast outskirts of Chengdu. Unlike the city, there were large fields and ditches, interspersed with clumps of bamboo, and within the bamboo were individual households. Yidi’s home was in the middle of the bamboo forest. Yidi had grown up in the midst of the fields, poor but content and happy. She also had a childhood sweetheart, Erwa. When Yi was 17, Erwa’s family came to Yi’s parents to propose marriage, and Yi’s parents agreed, just waiting for the right time to let the two get married. If that incident had not happened, Yi would have spent a quiet life with Erwa, surrounded by grandchildren when she was old. But on that stormy night when Yi was 18, all of that became a pipe dream, and Yi was left with eternal pain.
It was a night in the summer of 1921. After a day of hard work and dinner, Yi and Erwa planned to go for a walk. The summer heat had subsided, and a cool breeze blew in from the Jinjiang River nearby. The air was filled with the fragrance of the earth and the fresh scent of plants. Various insects and frogs in the fields sang non-stop, and every now and then the sound of bells from the local school could be heard. In Yidi dialect, it is even more beautiful than the bells at my home in Banei. Of course, I only learned about the bells after I started working as a helper in my family’s home.
In this environment, Yi and Erwa unknowingly walked further and further away, until they arrived in a field. It is said that this place was once a large mansion, but it was abandoned for some reason and eventually became a field. At the edge of this field, for some reason, there is a huge stone. The stone is more than 3 metres high, less than a metre wide and less than a metre thick. The most peculiar thing is that the bottom of the stone is completely black, except for a long strip in the middle of the stone, about an inch wide, which is multicoloured from top to bottom. Yi and Erwa sat next to the stone chatting, oblivious to the fact that the sky had changed. They didn’t know when, but the sky had filled with dark clouds. By the time Yi and Erwa realised it was time to go home, the rain had started in earnest. Yi and Erwa had no choice but to take shelter in the straw hut beside the fields where the farmer kept watch at night. The rain lasted for half an hour, during which time the thunderstorm was more intense than they could have imagined. The sky was full of dancing silver snakes and the earth shook with loud rumbles. Fortunately, summer rain comes and goes quickly, and in no time the sky cleared and the bright moon appeared.
With the moonlight, Yi and Erwa got up and went back. After the rain, the path in the field was muddy, so Erwa walked in front to explore the way, and Yi followed closely behind. In order not to slip, Yi kept looking at the ground while walking carefully. But just then, Yi Di Erwa let out a cry of alarm. Yi looked up and saw that Yi Di Erwa’s entire body had sunk into the ground, with only one hand sticking out, as if trying to grab something. Without thinking, Yi pounced on her, reaching out to grab Erwa’s hand, but she didn’t grab anything. Yi Di Erwa suddenly disappeared right in front of Yi’s eyes, sinking into the ground.
Yi searched the ground like crazy and suddenly noticed that there was a puddle on the ground. Yi immediately reached down to explore it, but found that it was unfathomable. Despite this, Yi still searched like crazy for all kinds of things to probe into the puddle. This was because Yi understood that her boyfriend had disappeared into this puddle. However, Yi’s efforts were not rewarded at all, and Yi’s Erwa was still nowhere to be seen.
When she came to, it was already late at night, and she was surrounded by people with torches, who were none other than her and her Erwa’s family members. According to her, everyone dug in the puddle for a long time, but they couldn’t find her Erwa. After dawn, some neighbours of the family also came to help. Everyone got dozens of metres of rope, hung a heavy object on one end, and put it into the puddle, but they found that the rope had sagged to the end, but it wasn’t yet at the bottom of the puddle.
Later, the Yi family and the Erwa family gave up, but Yi did not. That evening, Yi was tied up and taken home. Yi’s father locked Yi in the house and forbade her to go out, but early the next morning, Yi finally found an opportunity to escape and immediately went back to the puddle. However, she never found the puddle again. The unfathomable puddle had disappeared overnight, just like Yi’s Erwa. At first, Yi was worried that she had looked in the wrong place, but she clearly remembered that the bottom of the puddle was next to the huge rock. Now that the rock was there, but the puddle was gone. It turned out that the bottom of the puddle was clearly a flat area.
After hearing the news, many people rushed over to check it out. No one understood why the bottom of the puddle had suddenly disappeared. Later, an old man said that there had never been a bottom to the puddle in this place. Now that a puddle had suddenly appeared and then disappeared, it must be that the Dragon King had come out for his own offerings, and Yi Di Erwa had unfortunately become the Dragon King’s offering. When the news spread, the people in the surrounding area were afraid of this field, and no one dared to rent it to farm it anymore. The owner of the field had no choice but to let it go to waste. Yi, however, could never forget Yi Di Erwa and spent all day wandering in the field. Yi’s family was afraid that something would happen to Yi, so they sent Yi to our family through an intermediary to help with the work.
Now I am attending Huaxi Union University, which is what you said, and I went to the place you mentioned today, just to have a look. It has long been deserted, but among the weeds, I did see the huge stone you mentioned. But when I asked about the waterhole, no one wanted to talk about it, as if everyone was afraid of something. Perhaps when science advances, all these mysteries will be revealed.
‘What do you think?”
Shen Yuan seemed to have been thinking about this for a long time, and analysed it without hesitation: ’First, the place where it happened is in the southeast suburbs of Chengdu, and the bell of Huaxi Medical University can be heard, so it is naturally not far from Huaxi Medical University, so it is very likely that it is S University under our feet. Secondly, the reason for this puddle incident needs to be investigated in depth before we know. However, I suspect that the thunderstorm that day and the appearance of this puddle should be related. What do you think?’
‘I agree with you.’ Luo San did not wait for Shen Yuan to reply, and immediately pulled out the second stack of paper. This stack of paper was also a photocopy, and the words on it were written in tiny handwriting, so it is thought that the original paper was not recent. The paper records another Chengdu-related event:
Southeast of Chengdu County, there is a large mansion that is said to be occupied by the spirits of the dead. It is said to cover several hectares and stand alone in the middle of a field. The locals call it the ‘mansion of the dead’ and no one dares to go near it. Even if they pass by in the daytime, they walk in groups, and at night they avoid it like the plague. I once asked the villagers and learned that the year the house was built is no longer known, but it is believed to be at least a thousand years old. Some even say it was built in the Han Dynasty. Since then, it has survived thousands of years without being destroyed by fire or the scourge of bandits. This is no mean feat in a remote mountain valley, let alone in a busy city. According to ancient legend, when the bandit Li broke Chengdu during the Jin Dynasty, he wanted to burn down this house, but before he could light the fire, he collapsed to the ground. This happened three times, so no one dared to do it again. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, when the bandit Zhang broke Chengdu, he heard about this house and wanted to burn it down again. He led his troops there, and when they were about to light the fire, he ordered them to retreat, as if they were under a spell.
What’s more, there was no sign of life in the house: no lights at night, no smoke from the kitchen in the daytime, and a general air of death. The gates were always closed, and no one ever came in or out. There was a certain villager, known for his bravery, who got drunk one day and said to himself that there was nothing to fear in an uninhabited house, so he climbed over the wall and looked in. After saying this, he left and never returned for the rest of the day. When people looked for him, they found him asleep in the fields. He didn’t speak when asked, and didn’t answer when questioned, and looked like a lunatic. Since then, no one has dared to peek again. Some say that this house is inhabited by a ghost, and that the living should avoid it, for if anyone gets too close, their soul will be incomplete. I once looked at it from a distance of more than 20 zhang in the middle of the hot sun, and it was just as the villagers said, with no sign of life. Could it really be a haunted house? I just thought I’d write it down.
‘These should be the notes of a Qing person. The location is again southeast of Chengdu. The previous story mentioned that the incident took place on the ruins of a large mansion southeast of the outskirts of Chengdu. Combining this with the notes, I suspect that the tomb recorded here may be the ruins of the mansion recorded in the previous story. It is really hard to believe that this mansion could have existed for more than a thousand years, or even two thousand years. However, I believe it is real. As for the people who lived in the mansion, I don’t think it would be a haunted mansion. That’s an outrageous claim. I think that inside the mansion, there may have been a group of people living in isolation, but they had an extraordinary power, which is why the entire mansion has survived for so long. But this leads to another question: how did such a mansion, which had existed for so long, come to be destroyed? Who was responsible? We won’t know the answers to these questions until we investigate.’
‘These two incidents may be related to Professor Shi’s death, but what is the connection between them? And it’s been so long, I’m afraid it will be difficult to investigate.‘ Luo San frowned.
’Yes,’ Shen Yuan nodded, ’but this third incident may be easier to investigate.’
The third stack of papers contains copies of several newspapers, which record an incident that happened a few days ago in the western part of Chengdu. This strange incident attracted the attention of many media outlets in Chengdu, and the one that reported it most thoroughly was the New Shu Bao. According to the New Shu Bao, the incident happened a few days ago, on 23 June 1998. The New Shu Bao reported:
Why did the centuries-old well suddenly become murky? Why is there a boulder at the bottom of the well? Why did the stone at the bottom of the well suddenly sink? Yesterday, a well with hundreds of years of history suddenly became murky and foul-smelling in a residential courtyard on Shicun Street in the western part of Chengdu. The well, which used to be crystal clear and had sweet, delicious water, suddenly became murky and foul-smelling. The boulder at the bottom of the well also suddenly sank, causing many people to speculate. In response, the relevant experts said that it is temporarily impossible to explain, and further investigation is needed to determine the detailed cause.
Eyewitness account: the old well is churning
Yesterday morning, the reporter saw on the scene that the old well with the anomaly was located in a small courtyard with several towering ancient trees. The well was on the side of the courtyard. The well is not large, with a diameter of only about two feet. It is carved from a single piece of stone and has been polished until it is smooth. Many parts are sunken in, and it can be seen that the well, like the courtyard, is quite old. The reporter looked down from the edge of the well and discovered that this well was really extraordinary. Although the well opening was very small, the inside became wider and wider as you went down. The bottom of the well, more than ten metres from the ground, was almost five or six metres wide. At this time, the water at the bottom of the well was constantly churning as if it had been boiled. The water was yellow due to some unknown object mixed in. As the water churned, a fishy smell assailed the nostrils. Although the well water had become turbid and kept churning, the reporter could still see a one-foot-square stone exposed on the surface of the water at the bottom of the well.
A strange thing about the ancient well: a huge rock at the bottom
‘What’s going on? It was fine yesterday…’ Liu Sufeng, a great-grandmother who has lived in this courtyard for generations, stood by the well and sighed. Grandma Liu told the reporter that the courtyard has a history of several hundred years, and the well has been there since the courtyard was built. For a long time, the people living here have relied on this well for all their domestic water. The water in the well is clear and sweet, and there is always plenty of it, no matter the season. The most peculiar thing about the well is that there is a long, rectangular stone in the centre of the bottom, sticking out more than two metres. No one has been able to explain this stone for a long time. It is just there, at the bottom of the well. Maybe the person digging the well hit the stone when they were more than ten metres down, but they didn’t want to give up on the well they had already dug so deep, so they kept digging.
Two strange things about the old well: the well water turned muddy and the boulder fell
Liu Tai Po said that this well also recorded her happy childhood memories… But early yesterday morning, this happy memory was completely destroyed. At that time, Liu Tai Po went to the well to draw water and wash her face as usual, but as soon as she arrived at the well, she smelled a strange smell. When she looked in, she saw that the water in the well was constantly churning, and the stone that had originally been two metres above the water surface was now only a head remaining. At first, Granny Liu thought that the water level had risen because of the heavy rain the night before, but soon she realised that the water level was still as high as usual. Seeing the well water like this, Granny Liu immediately went back to the house and woke up her husband, and also woke up quite a few neighbours in the yard. Granny Liu went back to the well again, put a bucket in the well, and drew up a bucket of water. As soon as she pulled the water to the mouth of the well, she was overcome by the smell of the water and finally managed to get the water up with great difficulty.
Is the water from the ancient well seawater?
‘Look, the well water is right there,’ Mrs Liu pointed to a wooden bucket surrounded by a crowd of people. The water in the bucket was yellow, with some algae-like things floating in it, as well as some small transparent pieces that looked like fish scales. A Mr Liu, who claimed to be a folk science enthusiast, said that he had just tested the well water and found that it had suddenly become salty, with a composition very similar to seawater. The algae inside was also a type of seaweed, and the small transparent pieces were fish scales. However, Mr Li, who was with him, said privately that Mr Liu’s words could not be trusted because they were not based on evidence.
In response, the relevant expert said…
“It is not strange for well water to suddenly become hot and murky, as this has happened in other places. What is strange is why the boulder in this well suddenly subsided. Another thing is the words of Mr Liu, the amateur science enthusiast. If his test is true, then this well is really strange.’ Luo San said as he lit a cigarette, ‘We can assume that the first two incidents happened at S University, so they are directly related to the big secret at S University. And Professor Shi was killed because of this secret. The problem is the third incident, which seems to have nothing to do with S University.’
“Yes, it is not directly related to S University, but there is a similarity with the first incident, which is that both incidents are related to two things: water and boulders.’
Luo San suddenly thought of something else: ‘Not only that, this third thing involves seawater, so it must also be related to the sea eye. Shen Yuan, let’s go to Stone Street right away.’
‘No, Luo San, let’s split up. You go to Stone Street, and I have to go to the school archives.’ Shen Yuan pondered, ‘What happened 57 years ago was quite extraordinary, so I have to pay attention to it.’
“Okay, I’ll take care of Stone Street.’ As Luo San turned to leave, he was filled with Shen Yuan’s words: ‘What happened 57 years ago was quite extraordinary, so I have to pay attention to it.’ How did she know that what happened 57 years ago was extraordinary? Luo San couldn’t help but glance back at Shen Yuan. The classroom, with no lights on, was dark under the hazy sky, and Shen Yuan, sitting in the corner packing her things, seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mist.
When he reached the stairs, Luo suddenly remembered that he had left a book in the classroom, so he turned back. Just as he reached the classroom door, he saw Shen Yuan staring absently at a jade pendant in his hands and muttering, ‘No matter what you turn into now, we’ll always be together, won’t we?’
Chapter 5: Shicun Street
Shimeng Street is in the west of Chengdu. Luo San found the courtyard that had been reported in the media without much difficulty. The well was in the centre of the courtyard. Luo San leaned over the well and felt a cool breeze. The heat of the summer day had dissipated somewhat. Looking down through the well, he saw a few clumps of fern growing on the well wall. The leaves were damp and slowly dripped water to the bottom of the well, making a distant sound. The well had returned to its usual appearance. The water was so clear that you could see the bottom of the well, where a huge stone with only one end showing and a bucket that had fallen to the bottom because the rope had broken were clearly visible.
‘Excuse me,’ said an old man, appearing at the well with a camera. He pushed Luo San aside and, as if no one was around, kept taking photos of the huge stone at the bottom of the well. As he took the photos, he kept muttering to himself, ‘Stalagmite, stalagmite, I’ve finally found it.’
Stalagmite? What’s that? This street is called Stalagmite Street, could it be because of this stalagmite? A whole bunch of questions suddenly popped into Luo San’s head. Seeing that the old man was about to leave after taking his photo, Luo San stepped forward and stopped him, asking, ‘Sir, what is this stalagmite you were talking about?’
The old man didn’t answer Luo San’s question, but asked, ‘Young man, do you like Du Fu’s poems?’
Luo San was puzzled by the old man’s sudden question and hesitated, ‘No, his poems are too sad.’
The old man nodded and said, ‘No wonder you don’t know what a stone column is. This stone column is very famous in Chengdu, but modern people don’t know much about it. Du Fu even wrote a poem about it called “Stone Column”.
The old man told Luo San that “Stone Column” was written by Du Fu when he was a guest in Chengdu:
‘Don’t you see the twin stone pillars at the western gate of Yizhou City?
They have been passed down since ancient times as the eye of the sea, with traces of waves etched in the moss.
They often shiver in the rain, a phenomenon that is hard to explain.
I fear they are the tombs of the prime ministers of old, marked by standing stones that still remain today.
It is a pity that the masses are so easily deceived, just as a lowly official fawns on the sovereign.
The political changes have gone astray and lost their general direction, and they just sit back and watch the downfall and danger and receive the generous favour.
Alas, the stone stalks have a false reputation, and later generations did not recognise their true value.
How can we find a brave man to throw them into the sky, so that people will not doubt and see their true roots?
“Legend has it that the stone stalks originally had six roots, but by the Tang Dynasty there were only two left. Lu You of the Song Dynasty still saw two stone stalks, but they disappeared later. I only learned from the newspaper the other day that there is actually a remnant of a stalagmite here. Legend has it that what is suppressed under this stalagmite is the sea eye, and once this sea eye is moved, the entire Chengdu will turn into a country of lakes. Du Fu did not believe in this theory of the sea eye, and he believed that this should be the location of the tombs of ancient kings, queens, generals and ministers, and the stalagmite is just a sign of the tombs. However, most ancient Chengdu people did believe that it was the sea eye.
This stone column is indeed related to the sea eye, but Luo San wanted to ask the old man more, so he said, ‘Chengdu is located inland, so how could there be a sea? And why would there be a sea eye?’
The old man nodded and said, ‘You are right, but the people of Chengdu believe in this. There is a legend that has long been passed down in Chengdu about why Chengdu does not strike four bells. Legend has it that in the early years, Chengdu was a vast expanse of water known as the Western Sea. The residents could only live on the surrounding higher ground, which made life extremely inconvenient. So the residents begged the heavens to give them a better piece of land. Later, a fairy had mercy on them and sprinkled the ashes from the incense burner, instantly filling the entire Western Sea with land. However, there wasn’t enough ash, and some places weren’t filled in, which became the sea eye. The sea water gushed out from the sea eye, and it looked like it was about to flood Chengdu again. The people of Chengdu gathered huge stones and Buddha statues from all over to fill in the sea eye, but there was still one place that could not be filled in, so they had to ask the immortals for help. The immortals then assigned a tortoise to plug the sea eye, but the tortoise was unwilling to do so. The immortals had to tell it, ‘You only have to plug the sea eye for one night. When it’s four o’clock in the morning, you can leave.’ Upon hearing this, the tortoise went to plug the sea eye. The immortal then turned to the people of Chengdu and ordered them not to strike the fourth stroke of the night watch from then on. As a result, the turtle would never hear the fourth stroke of the night watch and had to keep plugging the sea eye forever. It is still there under the East Gate Bridge in Chengdu to this day.’
The old man went on and on, saying, ‘There are many legends about sea eyes in Chengdu. Apart from the stone pillar, there is also a sea eye rumoured to exist at Taziba in Tianpeng Town, Peng County, Chengdu, and there is also a sea eye rumoured to exist under the large Buddha statue at Daci Temple in Chengdu city.’
‘Sir, so you also believe that there is a sea eye in Chengdu? And this stone pillar is the sea eye’s guardian stone?’
‘Of course I don’t believe that,’ said the old man, ‘the stone pillar is actually a remnant of the ancient Shu people’s large stone culture.’
‘Boulder culture?”
Seeing that Luo San was confused, the old man explained, ’In terms of archaeological culture, the relics of the worship of boulders from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age are widely distributed, from the Atlantic coast of Europe southwards via the Mediterranean coast, from the Caucasus in Asia via Iran and India to the Pacific Rim region of China, Southeast Asia, Japan, and even the Pacific islands and the American continent. Because it is characterised by megalithic structures such as stone huts, stone circles, stone platforms, stone walls, stone carvings and stone chambers, it is generally referred to in archaeology as the ‘megalithic culture’, that is, the culture of large stones. As for the worship of boulders in Shu, it needs to start with the ancestors of the ancient Shu people. According to historical records, the ancestors of the ancient Shu people were descendants of Zhuanxu, the great-great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor. They first lived in the mountains upstream of the Minjiang River. The first king of ancient Shu, Zangong, lived in a stone room in the Min Mountains. After Zangong moved from Shushan in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River to the Chengdu Plain, he still retained the ancestors’ awe of the mountains and large stones. Therefore, even though there were no large stones produced on the Chengdu Plain, they were still transported from other places, and large stone buildings in different forms were used to express their worship of their ancestors and their living environment. This has resulted in the deep-rooted worship of large stones in Shu. For the people of Shu, the worship of large stones embodies a combination of the worship of their ancestors and their living environment. It is a rather special form of worship in the religious system of the people of Shu.”
The old man spoke eloquently: ’There are many such stone relics in Chengdu, which are divided into solitary stones and stone arrays. Solitary stones are concentrated in Chengdu, and the main ones are stone pillars, Tianya stones, Dijiao stones, Zhiji stones, and Wukuai stones. Stone rows, or stone lines, are also known as stone arrays. For example, there is the Daba Array in Xindu, the Eight Array Diagram in Shuangliu, and the Flying Stone in Xinfan.‘
’Sir, I still don’t understand. How are these big stones related to the sea eye?‘
’In the history of ancient Shu, there was once a great flood. It was a flood similar to the great flood during the reigns of Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun in Chinese history. The entire Chengdu Plain was almost submerged in water. It was during the Du Yu Dynasty of the ancient Shu Kingdom. King Du Yu was unable to control the floods, so a man named Beiling took on the responsibility of flood control and expanded his power in the process. He overthrew the Du Yu Dynasty and established the Kai Ming Dynasty. Some of these stone relics may be the marks left behind by Beiling during the flood control process, so they are related to the sea eye.’ After the old man finished speaking, he looked at the sky and hurriedly said to Luo San, ’Young man, I should go now. I’ll stop here.’
After talking with the old man, Luo San felt that it was a worthwhile trip. At least he understood that the stone in the well turned out to be a stalagmite, and it was said that the sea eye was suppressed underneath.
Back at school, Shen Yuan told Luo San that the school archives had been taken 57 years ago.
At 3 o’clock, in Room 314 of Building 4,
Luo San, Shen Yuan, Mu Shigu, Nan Qingyi, He Wangyu, and Liu Fufeng all frowned…
‘I can’t find any noteworthy files. Someone has beaten me to the punch.‘ Shen Yuan’s gaze coldly swept over the faces of the people present.
Liu Fufeng said hatefully, “The newspapers from Chengdu and Chongqing 57 years ago have all been taken in advance.”
’Could there be a traitor among us?‘
’No,’ He Wangyu shook his head, ’Those newspapers weren’t torn off recently, it looks like they’ve been torn off for a while.’
Luo San noticed that Shen Yuan’s face suddenly turned pale when she heard this.
‘Fifty-seven years ago, there was a strange incident at S University that shocked the whole of Sichuan, and even the whole country.’
‘What strange incident?’ Everyone’s spirits lifted when they heard Nan Qingyi say this.
‘We found an old man who told us that 57 years ago, a murder occurred in the Sidao, killing hundreds of people. The Nationalist government was extremely nervous at the time, and I heard that the matter was later settled at the cost of countless lives. After that incident, a prophecy spread that 57 years later, the murder would happen again, and Chengdu would once again be bloodied.‘
’What exactly was the murder 57 years ago?’
‘I don’t know. The person who knew the answer got a phone call in the middle of the story and had to rush to the hospital,’ added Mu Shigu. “But we can go and see him again tomorrow.”
Nan Qingyi took two newspapers out of her bag: ’Because the murder happened at Sijiao, we think this report must be related to the tragedy 57 years ago.’
One of the news items was a story entitled ‘Huge boulder blocks construction of S University’s teaching building’ published in the Xinxin News on 26 August 1933. The news story said:
Yesterday, construction of the new campus of National S University was blocked. There is a huge natural boulder where the teaching building was to be built. The boulder is more than 3 metres high and more than 1 metre wide. Therefore, the teaching building cannot be built while the boulder is there. The university therefore ordered the workers to destroy the boulder, but they failed. Yesterday afternoon, dozens of labourers gathered in front of the stone to destroy it. However, the boulder could not be pushed over, and no foundation could be seen when it was dug. Explosives were used to blast it, but the boulder remained unmoved, with only a crack visible on it. According to the farmers in the surrounding area, this stone has been here for a long time. It shakes when pushed lightly, but it seems to be deeply rooted in the ground, so it is hard to understand why.
When he saw the word ‘boulder’ in this news article, Luo San’s heart stirred, and he remembered the boulder in the first case that Shi Wuji had asked them to investigate. He couldn’t help but glance at Shen Yuan, and saw that Shen Yuan was also turning his head towards him, giving him a look, before turning his gaze to another newspaper article. It was ‘The National S University Apologises to Relatives of Missing Female Students’ from the Huaxi Daily in April 1937:
Yesterday, the university apologised to the relatives of the two missing girls. The university said that the purpose of a university is to educate students, cultivate national character and enlighten the people. The university is entrusted by the parents to educate their children and therefore has a responsibility to protect them. However, the incident was strange and resulted in the disappearance of the two girls. The school’s head of discipline was negligent, and the school is also to blame. Therefore, the school apologised to the relatives of the girls and paid 3,000 yuan in compensation. It is reported that before the two female college students disappeared, they both appeared in the first teaching building of S University, and then they were nowhere to be seen. In response, the school said that it will rectify as soon as possible…
“The first teaching building is now the fourth teaching building in the east district of S University,’ Nan Qingyi explained, ‘Mu Shigu and I agree that both incidents occurred before the 57-year-old murder, and both are related to Si Jiao, so they should be the prelude to that case 57 years ago.’
‘We have no clues about the stone, but we have found some information about the disappearance,’ Nan Qingyi deliberately lowered his voice, ‘This disappearance of girls may be related to the toilet downstairs that never opens. Mu Shigu and I went to collect the facts after seeing this news and found that it was not as simple as it seemed. Although the location where the two girls disappeared has not been determined, the last place they went before they disappeared was the women’s toilet on the first floor of the fourth teaching building. And that women’s toilet was locked up permanently by the school immediately after the disappearance of the two girls.‘
’That toilet was closed because of this incident?’ Liu Fufeng said in surprise.
‘Yes, Xiaoliu, what’s wrong?‘
’I just suddenly remembered the story of the red vest, which said that this teaching building was closed after the red vest incident.‘
’Those are just the nonsense made up by bored people,’ said Nan Qingyi. ’That women’s toilet is very strange. Someone once tried to open the door of the women’s toilet, but found that no matter what method was used, the door would not budge.’
Luo San was about to ask further, but saw Yan Qingbo push open the door and rush to everyone without sitting down and say, ‘Sorry, I’m late. Shit, I was suddenly called to work on a case…’
Yan Qingbo paused halfway through his sentence, his eyes scanning Nan Qingyi and Mu Shigu. After a long while, he said, ‘You two went to see an old man this morning?’
‘Yes, how did you know?‘ Nan Qingyi and Mu Shigu looked at each other, wondering why Yan Qingbo had asked such a question.
’Wait and go to the unit with me. Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal, just a statement.‘ Seeing that the two were a little shocked, Yan Qingbo explained, “The old man you went to see this morning was found dead at home at noon…”
’Right, why did you go to see him?’
‘We asked him about something that happened 57 years ago. But before he could tell us in detail what happened 57 years ago, he was called away by a phone call.’ Nan Qingyi thought for a moment and said, “That phone call was made by the murderer, the purpose of which was to call him away in time to kill him.”
After listening to this, Yan Qingbo sighed: ’It’s the case from 57 years ago again. After listening to Luo San talk about the red horse last night, I had a bad feeling that the 57-year-old curse was about to appear again.’
‘What do you mean by ‘curse’?‘ Nan Qingyi widened her eyes.
’Ever since I became a cop, someone has died violently every year, and the method of death is always the same: being bitten to death by a pack of dogs. Just last year, a young man…’ They all have one thing in common: they have all investigated the case that happened 57 years ago.
Before Yan Qingbo finished speaking, He Wangyu stood up abruptly: ‘This is too dangerous. We could lose our lives at any time. Classmates, we can’t investigate this matter anymore! There’s no need to risk our lives, is there?’
‘I agree,’ said Mu Shigu. ‘We don’t need to take this risk.’
“I agree with He too. You shouldn’t investigate this matter anymore. Those people have no humanity. Over the past year, whenever I thought about the young man who was bitten to death last year, I felt a rash.
‘Yan Ge, stop,’ Shen Yuan’s face was frosty. ’Yan Ge, I know you are good to us, but Professor Shi is the head of our society, and if he dies, we have to do something for him. As for He Wangyu and Mu Shigu, if you are afraid, you can quit, but at least I will continue.’
Nan Qingyi, Luo San and Liu Fufeng all supported Shen Yuan, so Yan Qingbo had to ask everyone to be careful. He Wangyu also said, ‘Since everyone is determined, I will go with you. But everyone really has to be careful.’
Yan Qingbo slammed his hand down on the table and said, ‘Forget it, let’s not talk about this now. Nan Qingyi and Mu Shigu, come with me to the police station for an investigation. The rest of you just continue.’
Chapter 6: Violation of ancient rites
After everyone had left, Shen Yuan took out a paper package and placed it in front of Luo San: inside were three small beads. The beads were round and smooth, and it was impossible to tell what material they were made of.
‘What are these?’
“I don’t know either, but I have a feeling that this is no ordinary object. I have seen these beads many times before, but I don’t usually see them. They usually appear after heavy rain in the summer.’
‘That’s strange,’ Luo San picked up the bead and looked at it closely, and his mind quickly began to race: the beads appeared after heavy rain, and the scene after heavy rain was so familiar. Yes, wasn’t the puddle in the first case Professor Shi asked them to investigate only appeared after a summer thunderstorm? Also, Shen Yuan analysed yesterday that the location of the puddle was within the S University. Could it be… Thinking of this, Luo San immediately spoke to Shen Yuan, ‘Could it be that you are suspecting that the exact location of the puddle is near the Fourth Teaching Building?’
‘Yes.’
“Do you know the exact location of the puddle?’
‘Follow me.‘ Shen Yuan did not directly answer Luo San’s question, but stood up and walked out of the classroom. Following Shen Yuan, Luo San came to the end of a corridor on the first floor.
’Look at the floor.”
Following the direction of Shen Yuan’s finger, Luo San saw a faint water stain on the floor of the corridor. Strangely, the water stain was very shallow and faint, and it did not look like it was formed after water was poured onto the floor. Instead, it looked like it was formed after water seeped up from the ground. Why would there be water seeping up from the floor of this classroom, and why was it only in this one place? Luo San looked around carefully. The water stain was at the end of the corridor, next to the women’s toilet, which was as famous as the attic of the Teaching Building 4. On weekdays, Luo San would have thought that the water stain was formed because rainwater had seeped into the women’s toilet during the heavy rain earlier and seeped out on the floor. But now his opinion was completely different: ‘It was formed after the puddle appeared.’
‘That’s what I think too. I’ve seen water stains in this place many times, and every time it was after a heavy summer thunderstorm. The puddle in the first thing Professor Shi asked us to investigate might be here. The boulder reported in the newspaper in 1933 should be nearby.‘
’Er,’ Luo San hesitated, ’maybe we can go and see Professor Wu, he might know something.’
‘Something that happened 57 years ago?’ Professor Wu frowned when he heard the reason for their visit. ’I really don’t know about that. Xiaosan, as you know, my main purpose here is to study, not to inquire about strange things.’
‘As for the stone you mentioned, I’ve never heard of it either. Chengdu is a flat city that doesn’t produce stones. The stones in this city, such as Tianya Stone, Zhiji Stone, stone stalagmites, stone mirrors, and Wukuai Stone, are all recorded in historical books. But this stone you mentioned, at least in my impression, I have never seen any records of it, so it most likely doesn’t exist.’
‘Actually, there are records.‘ Shen Yuan then gave Professor Wu the three cases left by Shi Wumu and told him about the current investigation. Luo San also told Professor Wu about the discovery on Shisun Street. He just felt that Professor Wu looked very strange after seeing these records and listening to their stories, but he quickly returned to normal.
’Professor Wu, what do you think is going on? Is the legend of Haiyan in Chengdu really related to the turtle spirit controlling the water? And what about the stone at University S? What’s the story there? And what about the toilet?‘
Professor Wu didn’t answer Luo San’s questions, but after a long pause, he looked up at the two and asked, “Are you really going to investigate this matter?”
’Yes,‘ they answered in unison.
’In that case, I’ll be frank with you. This matter seems very complicated. It seems that someone has been guiding you to investigate this case.‘
’Who?‘
’Shi Wuwu.’
‘Professor Shi is dead.‘
’That’s why it’s strange. He’s dead, but he can still keep directing you,‘ said Professor Wu, tearing open the envelope and turning it over so that Luo San and Shen Yuan could both see. On the inside of the envelope were a few lines of lightly written words in pencil and a symbol.
’Professor Shi’s handwriting,’ Shen Yuan recognised at once that it was written by Shi Wuji. The lines of words read: ‘The huge stone in the south of the city is very strange and supernatural, but it is not mentioned in historical records. Perhaps it has remained in the mansion for so long that the mansion has become ruins and the stone is only now known to the world. After the rain, the deep pit looks similar to a stone pillar. The well in Shuimian Street in the west of the city is unusual, so there must be something about the stone pillar. If you two see this writing, you should go to Shuimian Street immediately to find out more. The boulder in the south of the city may be related to the stone pillar. It concerns an unusual event that happened 57 years ago and is related to ‘Chengdu’. ‘Chengdu’ is where the country’s pulse is located, but no one knows where ‘Chengdu’ is. This map is the only clue.”
Below the word is a symbol, which is the map Shi Wuwei was talking about. The symbol is half-circular, with a cone in the middle and three horizontal bars inside, like a mountain.
‘The giant stone in the south of the city is similar to a stone pillar. It seems that we don’t have enough information. As for what Chengdu is, isn’t it this city?‘ Luo San muttered to himself, then paused for a moment and said, “No, Professor Shi put quotation marks around the two characters, which means that there is another meaning to ”Chengdu’. Could it be that this symbol represents ‘Chengdu’? Professor Wu, what do you think?’
Professor Wu was in a daze, and when he heard Luo San ask him, he came back to his senses: ‘The word “Chengdu” appears for the second time. Last time, it was “Chengdu” in his phone call to the girl. As for what “Chengdu” is, I really don’t know. But this pattern, well, it was unearthed from Sanxingdui.’
Sanxingdui is an ancient Shu civilization site in Guanghan City, next to Chengdu. Due to the large number of cultural relics found there, and the fact that it is completely different from Central Plains culture, forming its own system, and having almost no connection with later Shu culture, the reason for its disappearance is unknown. Therefore, there are many speculations about the origin of this civilization. Some people think it is a Western Asian civilization, some think it is a native Shu civilization, and others think it is an alien civilization.
Professor Wu thought for a moment and said, ‘Last time, didn’t the policeman say that they found a symbol at the scene? Ask what it is.’
‘Okay.’ Luo San made the call and asked, “Is this the symbol?”
Professor Wu nodded and said, “Then ask him if he found anything else.”
Yan Qingbo at the other end of the phone seemed to have heard what Professor Wu said. Before Luo San could speak, he said, ’The albino who died in the early morning today was holding something tightly in one hand. There were two characters on the skin of the palm of his hand. They weren’t written or carved, but seemed to have grown out of the flesh…’
‘What are the characters?‘ Luo San knew that there was another clue and couldn’t help but feel a surge of energy.
’Dujing.‘
’Dujing? Which two characters?‘
’Three dots of water, a character that sells, Dujing.‘
Professor Wu pondered for a long time and said, “The legend of Haiyan is not only related to the tortoise spirit controlling the water, but also possibly to an ancient legend.”
’What legend?’ Shen and Luo asked in unison.
‘The Ancient Yue Du Jing!‘
’What is the Ancient Yue Du Jing?‘
’I read it in some miscellaneous books. The Du Jing is a legendary book that records the topography of rivers, mountains and rivers in ancient China. It is said that after Yu the Great pacified the world, he gathered the princes of the world at Maoshan in Zhejiang Province to form a coalition. He collected information from all over the world, summed up his experience in flood control, and learned about the geography of the nine provinces. Because it was written in ancient Yue script, later generations called it the ‘Ancient Yue Dujing’. In this book, in addition to the customs and mores of the various ancient Chinese ethnic groups and the geographical conditions at the time, it also records many secrets that are no longer known. Once someone masters and cracks these secrets, they will have the ability to destroy the entire Chinese world.‘
’How is that possible?’
‘Yes, many people think it’s impossible, and say that the book of sacrilege is nothing but an illusory legend. But the legend of the book of sacrilege has never stopped for thousands of years, even though no one has ever seen the real book of sacrilege.’ Professor Wu looked out of the window at the dim road and said thoughtfully, ’People who believe that the book of sacrilege exists either want to destroy China or are worried about its demise. As for those who don’t believe it exists, it’s because they don’t believe in a world they don’t know. Although I have never seen the book of blasphemies, I believe it exists.‘
’But the book of blasphemies is a book that records the mountains and rivers of China. Chengdu has neither large mountains nor large rivers or lakes. How could this place be related to the book of blasphemies?’
‘No. The Du Jing is definitely related to the current case. It is recorded in the Huayang Guozhi: Chengdu was once known as a low-lying area with deep springs, and was the source of the four rivers. In other words, Chengdu is a low-lying area with abundant groundwater, and is the source of the four rivers: the Yangtze, the Huaihe, the Jialing and the Minjiang. Judging from Chengdu’s geographical location, the city is at most related to the Yangtze, and it is hard to believe that it is the source of the four rivers. There must be an inexplicable relationship between Chengdu and the four rivers.”
Luo San sorted out his thoughts and said, ’The first of the four rivers may be related to the sea eye. Therefore, the secret is in the Dujing. If we find the Dujing, we can unlock all the secrets, but at present, we don’t have that possibility. So we can only start from the outside, from that huge stone.’
Chapter 7 The Women’s Restroom That Never Opens
Clouds were gathering in the sky, silver dragons were dancing, and a heavy rain was about to fall. Luo San looked at the sky in front of him, feeling restless. He had already called Shen Yuan four times, but she had not answered. Time was running out, and if he waited any longer, he was afraid he would miss the opportunity to discover the secrets of the Fourth Teaching Hall. Thinking about this, Luo San called Shen Yuan’s dormitory and asked someone to tell her, ‘This is Luo San. I’m going to the Fourth Teaching Hall.’ After hanging up the phone, Luo San packed up briefly, held an umbrella and dashed into the heavy rain.
When he left Professor Wu’s dormitory in the afternoon, Luo San had a brainstorm. He thought that since there had been cases of students going missing at S University before, would there be any more in the future? So he went to Yan Qingbo and, after much persuasion, managed to obtain a record of the missing persons cases at S University over the past 50 years. When he got the record, Luo San was shocked because in the past 50 years, there have been as many as 40 people who have gone missing from S University. It is obviously abnormal for so many people to go missing from a university in a city. What is even more abnormal is that most of the statements from friends and classmates of the missing people talk about the last place where the missing person was seen being Sijiao; the missing cases all occurred during summer thunderstorms.
Luo Sanyi decided to go to Sijiao to take a look at the thunderstorm tonight.
The sky was full of thunderclaps, which made Luo Sanyi jump with fear. He lost his footing and fell to the ground. The thunder and rain suddenly stopped.
What is this place? Could this be the location of the student disappearances in recent decades? Luo San carefully felt his way forward. He didn’t expect that as soon as he reached the wall, a hand reached in, grabbed him and dragged him out.
Luo San felt a bright light, and when he looked, he realised that he was still in the woods outside the Si Jiao. The person who pulled him out was Shen Yuan.
It turned out that Shen Yuan had returned from the bathhouse and immediately rushed to Sijiao. With the light, Shen Yuan saw Luo San clinging helplessly against the wall of Sijiao, hiding from the thunder and rain. An unexpected flash of lightning struck, and Shen Yuan couldn’t believe her eyes. Where Luo San was standing, only his feet were left dangling outside the wall.
The thunder in the sky continued to rumble, and Shen Yuan watched the solid wall as she pounded on it in vain. Suddenly, she felt her hands slapping against the wall suddenly go empty, as if she had reached into water and disappeared before her eyes. So she reached in and felt around, just catching Luo San’s arm, and dragged him out.
‘What was the situation inside exactly?’
“It was dark inside, and the situation outside, I couldn’t see or hear. I could only hear some strange sounds…’
‘What kind of sound?‘
’I’m not sure, it sounded like waves.”
Shen Yuan saw Luo San’s expression and gritted her teeth, “I’ll go take a look.”
She switched on her flashlight and felt around the wall, finally touching the air-like wall. Then she took a deep breath and stepped inside. Luo San followed her in. The landscape behind the wall was completely revealed in the light of the flashlight. When Luo San saw its structure clearly, he couldn’t help but laugh. This place was obviously a toilet, and from its layout of only squat positions and no urinals, it was still a women’s toilet.
The ceiling of this toilet is more than three metres to four metres high from the ground. It turned out that there used to be a window, but it was later sealed up. However, what was strange was that these bones were only scattered, and none of them were complete human bones.
Luo San glanced at Shen Yuan, but saw that she was looking at the door of the toilet. Luo San reached out and pulled the door, but found that it was as solid as iron and wouldn’t budge.
Next to one of the walls of the women’s toilet stood a huge boulder more than three metres high, the base of which was deeply embedded in the ground. ‘If I’m not mistaken, this should be the boulder that the news report said had been unable to be moved and was blocking the construction of the Four Teachings. Luo San said to Shen Yuan as he leaned down to take a closer look at the stone. The stone had a smooth surface and was completely one piece. It was a dark green-black colour throughout, except for a one-inch-wide strip in the middle that was multi-coloured. The roots of the stone were deeply embedded in the ground, and it was hard to tell how deep they went.
Luo San stood up and tried to push the stone. He used very little force, but the stone swayed slightly. Suddenly, he got his strength together and pushed the stone with all his might, but the boulder did not move.
‘What kind of broken stone is this?’ Luo San curiously surveyed the stone, when suddenly he noticed that the crack in the stone seemed to have widened a little. He was about to lean closer to take a closer look when Shen Yuan’s flashlight suddenly moved away.
‘What’s wrong?’ Luo San looked up discontentedly, but saw Shen Yuan listening intently with a serious face.
Shen Yuan said to Luo San, “Go over there and push the stone.”
Although he didn’t understand, Luo San went over and gently pushed the stone. Just as he pushed it, the sound of waves came from under the toilet seat.
‘Where is this water coming from?‘ Luo San asked.
Shen Yuan did not answer.
’I’ll go out and find something to test the depth of the water.”
Luo San brought in a few stones and threw them into each of the three squatting positions.
The third squatting position was bottomless.
After repeated observations, Luo San found that as long as he pushed the boulder, the crack on the boulder would suddenly grow larger, and the rain and wind outside would also become more urgent.
Luo San walked towards the wall of the invisible door again, but ‘bang’, he hit it. Because he had walked in a hurry, the impact was really heavy, and he immediately covered his head and squatted down.
‘Why are you so careless? Where did you hit it? Are you hurt?’ Shen Yuan asked, leaning over.
Luo San did not answer her question, but nervously said, ‘The wall is blocked, and the door is gone.’
Shen Yuan reached out and patted the wall, and sure enough, the door was gone, and there was hard wall everywhere.
In the dark toilet, Luo San and Shen Yuan sat facing each other. In the past two hours, the two of them had tried every possible method, but they could never find the invisible door. ‘I’m so stupid, how come I didn’t think that the door would close.’ Shen Yuan picked up a tree branch and beat the ground in frustration.
‘It’s not your fault. Seeing such a strange place, it’s natural to be careless for a while. You’d better not blame yourself, calm down first, and find out if there are any other ways out,’ Luo San comforted.
After listening to Luo San’s words, Shen Yuan let out a soft sigh, but did not say anything. Luo San understood what she meant. The so-called exit was nothing more than self-comfort, and there was no exit at all. Thinking about this, he whispered uneasily, ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t think that my momentary curiosity would drag you into this.’
“It’s not your fault. In fact, I’m the one who dragged you into this. If I hadn’t kept dragging you to investigate this case, you wouldn’t have gotten involved.’
‘Shen Yuan!‘
’Mm!‘
’In fact, I’ve always wanted to ask a question: who exactly are you? You seem to know a lot about the case that happened 57 years ago, and it seems like you have a lot of secrets?‘
’So why didn’t you ask?‘
’Because you didn’t say.‘
’Do you really want to know?‘
’As long as you’re willing to tell.‘
’Okay, since I can’t go out, I’ll tell you. In fact, my surname is not Shen, it’s Chen.’ In the darkness, Shen Yuan’s voice was not loud, but it seemed to carry a hint of melancholy and a sense of helplessness. As she spoke, she took a necklace off her neck and held it out in front of Luo San. It was a necklace made of small red stones, with a golden bell the size of a peanut as a pendant.
‘What is this?’ Luo San looked at it for a long time, but couldn’t figure it out.
Shen Yuan did not immediately reply, but slowly recited a passage: ‘Protected by bloodstone, guided by golden bell, the Xiangxi Walker, accompanied by the corpse. I am the descendant of the Feiye branch of the Xiangxi corpse-driving family. From the day I was born, my life was doomed… Originally, I could have avoided being accompanied by corpses, but because of the incident 57 years ago, it changed the fate of our entire family, and also deprived me of the opportunity to choose…’
‘Wait a minute,‘ Luo San suddenly interrupted Shen Yuan.
’What’s wrong? What’s that sound?’ Shen Yuan was very puzzled by Luo San’s interruption, but soon she understood the reason why Luo San had suddenly interrupted her. Because at this time she heard the sound of the waves under the toilet seat, which had been faint until now, suddenly becoming apparent. Without thinking too much, she turned her head and turned on the flashlight in her hand. Under the flashlight’s beam, Luo San was stunned by the sight before him. The water in the toilet seat was rapidly rising. At this time, compared to when they had just seen it, the water level had risen by more than a foot and was about to overflow.
‘Rushing…’ The sound of waves echoed in the dim room, sounding inexplicably eerie. Just a few minutes had passed, but the sound of the waves, which had been faint before, was now so loud that it almost drowned out the sound of the two men’s voices. The water in the toilet cubicle had also risen to the floor. Looking at the water that had risen to his ankles, Luo San understood that if he didn’t think of a way out quickly, the entire toilet would be filled with water. So he reluctantly patted the walls of the toilet.
Unbeknownst to them, the water had already risen to their waists. Luo San suddenly felt a bright light, and then Shen Yuan let out a scream. With the light of the flashlight, Luo San saw in front of her that a person was swaying up and down with the current, seemingly already a corpse.
It was a man, floating face down in the water. How could such a person suddenly appear in such a confined space? A series of thoughts flashed through Luo San’s mind, but he really couldn’t figure it out. So he looked at Shen Yuan, who was also looking shocked and confused.
‘Why don’t we turn him over and take a look?’ Luo San suggested to Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan didn’t say anything, just nodded. Luo San then gestured for Shen Yuan to stand back a little, and then reached out and flipped the man over. It was a middle-aged man, perhaps only in his forties, with long, dark hair that clung to his plump face; he was dressed quite decently throughout, and looked like someone who had been pampered for a long time. It was basically certain that this man was dead.
After confirming that the man was dead, Shen Yuan was not afraid and immediately began to examine the body. Soon, she was seen pulling a wallet out of the corpse and handing it to Luo San, before burying her head in the corpse to examine it further. Luo San opened the wallet and found an ID card inside. The photo on the ID card vaguely showed the man in front of him, whose name was Dongfang Bai and who was 45 years old and from Wuhou District in Chengdu. Luo San continued searching in the wallet and soon found a supermarket receipt.
‘Shen Yuan, come and look at this,’ Luo San exclaimed happily as he looked at the receipt.
Shen Yuan frowned and waded laboriously over to Luo San’s side, asking, ‘What’s so happy about it?’
‘Look, look at the date,’ Luo San said, pointing to the date on the receipt. The date was exactly the same as the day. Shen Yuan was very clever, and as soon as he saw it, he understood what Luo San meant: ‘If we have been here the whole time, and the body suddenly appeared here, it means that there is another space that leads here. If we go and fight for it, there may still be a chance. The main thing is that the body had today’s receipt, so he must have died today before floating here. In that case, the journey may not have been long.’
“Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted to say.’
‘The key is where the exit is?‘
’Of course it’s here,‘ Luo San said, pointing his finger at the flooded squat toilet. “The water came from here, so the exit must also be here.”
’It’s bottomless in here! Are you a good swimmer?‘
’I’m just OK at swimming. The point is that if we don’t give it a go, soon this toilet will be just as bottomless as it is now.’ Luo San looked at the water that had risen to his chest.
‘Then let’s get ready to go. Before we do, there’s something I need to explain. First, this place may be a world we’ve never encountered before, so while we’re down here, no matter what, don’t leave me…‘
’Not just me, no matter who we are, we shouldn’t leave each other down here,’ Luo San interrupted Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan looked at Luo San and sighed, ‘Okay. Hold my hand and we’ll jump together. One, two, three.’ As soon as Shen Yuan finished speaking, the two of them immediately jumped into the squat toilet. Luo San felt that everything was just as expected. Wherever his feet touched, there was nothing but emptiness. Even though he was in the water, he couldn’t feel any buoyancy. It seemed that the water around him, just like his body, was constantly falling, without end.
Suddenly, Luo San felt a bright light, and at the same time, his hand was violently pulled by Shen Yuan. Luo San did not have time to see where the light came from, and immediately turned his head to look at Shen Yuan, but saw that Shen Yuan was also looking at him in surprise, obviously also curious about the sudden bright light. The light came from above, and Luo San was about to take a closer look when unexpectedly, a current of water rushed in, and the two of them were swept back into the darkness.
The water kept gushing upwards, and the two men felt their bodies being swept upwards with the water. After a while, Luo San felt the water suddenly rushing diagonally, and he was also swept sideways against his will. With a bright flash of light, the two men fell heavily to the ground in the woods outside the Sijiao, next to the body of the man named Dongfang Bai. The water did not continue to gush out of the toilet, as if the door had been closed again.
“How could this be?’
Shen Yuan shook his head and said, ‘I don’t know either.’
Luo San wanted to say something else, but then he heard a commotion around them. The police had arrived.
Chapter 8: The Assassination by the Pack of Wild Dogs
‘Yan Ge, I really have to thank you this time. Otherwise, Shen Yuan and I would probably be in the police station for questioning.’ At 3am, Luo San and Shen Yuan came out of the police station together, looking tired as they thanked Yan Qingbo. Thanks to Yan Qingbo’s help, the police had just believed that the deaths of Dongfang Bai and the two of them were unrelated.
Yan Qingbo yawned and waved his hands, ‘Xiaosanzi, it was a small favour, so don’t be polite. But then again, who did you offend?’
‘What do you mean?’
“What do you mean? You don’t think it was a coincidence that the police just appeared outside Sijiao, do you? It was because we received a report that we rushed there. The person who reported it clearly intended to have you two arrested as suspects. Who has such a grudge against you?’
‘It’s not a grudge, it’s because someone doesn’t want us to be free.’ Shen Yuan looked worried. ’When we were discussing the 57-year-old murder case yesterday, didn’t we say that someone doesn’t want anyone to investigate what happened 57 years ago? The people who called the police are the same people. They want us to be locked up as suspects, so that the Paranormal Research Association will probably give up investigating the 57-year-old case. This time, they have failed in their plan, and they definitely won’t let go. Xiaosan, our situation will be very dangerous, so we have to be careful in the future.’
‘Okay, I’ll be careful.‘ Luo San looked thoughtful. “Shen Yuan, Yan Ge, I still have two questions that I can’t figure out. How did those people know that we would come out of that place? And how did the door suddenly open when it had already been closed?”
’The first question is easy to explain. They were waiting outside the whole time, and when you came out, they immediately called the police. As for the second question,’ Yan Qingbo shook his head, ’I don’t know either.’
‘Forget it. Never mind this question. Alas!’ Luo San sighed.
‘Xiaosan, perhaps I can speculate using the information we have as police. Dongfang Bai was from Wuhou District, but lived in Jinniu District, northwest of Chengdu. Judging from the body, he died between 8 and 10 pm last night, but we also found a receipt on him from a supermarket dated 9:56 pm last night. There is a more than 90% chance that he left it after making a purchase, so he was killed after 9:56 pm last night. And the supermarket shown on that receipt is located near Dongfang Bai’s residence in the west of the city. According to our investigation, that residence is the first crime scene. You saw Dongfang Bai at 10:11. At that time, he was in the women’s toilet of University S. From the time of his death to his appearance at University S, there was a maximum of only 17 minutes. I don’t think the murderer had to transport him from the west of the city to the southeast of the city in such a short time to throw him into the ground. Therefore, Dongfang Bai should have been thrown into the ground near his residence in the west of the city.‘
’West of the city?’ Luo San gasped.
Shen Yuan also looked grave: ‘If that entrance is in the west of the city, then it’s terrifying.’
‘How terrifying?’
“Although Xiaosan and I didn’t see clearly last night, we can basically be sure that the underground is a body of water. If that entrance is in the west of the city, then it means that the entire underground of Chengdu is a connected body of water, a huge connected body of water. The city where we have lived for generations is floating on the water, isn’t that terrifying?’
‘How is that possible?‘
’This is just speculation, and we certainly hope it isn’t true.‘
’Whether it’s true or not, we’ll talk about it tomorrow. Aren’t you two tired?’ Luo San yawned, “I need to go back to the dormitory and get some sleep.”
After returning to school, Luo San felt extremely sleepy. His legs were floating as he walked, and now he just wanted to get some sleep as soon as possible. After dropping Shen Yuan off at the bottom of the dormitory building, he hurried to his own dormitory. Suddenly a noise overhead caught Luo San’s attention. He looked up and saw several goshawks perched high in the trees, motionless, their fierce gaze like electricity directed at the ground, as if waiting for something. Luo San looked for a while, thinking there was nothing to see, and turned his gaze away. However, he saw a few wolf dogs and several feral dogs not far away chasing each other, barking lowly non-stop. Luo San looked at the pack of wolf dogs, but saw that the few wolf dogs and even the wild dogs were also looking at him, and their gaze actually revealed flashes of ferocity. Luo San immediately walked quickly towards the path at the side, trying to bypass the pack of animals. And at that moment, he heard a rustling in the bushes beside him, and the branches kept shaking, as if there were countless things inside.
Luo San stopped in his tracks, afraid to go any further. Because in front of him, countless snakes appeared as if out of thin air, surrounding him and motionless. And among the snakes, there were many king cobras, which were well-known for their fear-inducing appearance. They had straightened up, with the part below their heads flattened and widened, and kept spitting out their tongues.
‘Hoo!’ A gust of wind came from behind, and Luo San turned his head to see a wolfdog leaping high and charging at him. Luo San instinctively swung his fist at the wolf dog, but it was avoided by the wolf dog. In front of him, the wolf dog’s big mouth was about to close in on Luo San’s neck. In that split second, there was a gust of wind overhead, and the wolf dog let out a mournful cry and fell to the ground. Luo San saw that one of the wolf dog’s eyes was gushing bright red blood, which, coupled with its ferocious appearance, made it look especially hideous. Although it had lost an eye, the wolfdog did not pay any attention to the eagle hovering in the air. Instead, as soon as the eagle landed, it immediately jumped up and pounced on Luo San again. A dark shadow flashed past Luo San’s eyes like lightning, and the wolfdog let out a whimpering sound again as it landed. However, at this moment, there was another gust of wind behind him, and the other wolfdog had already pounced on Luo San…
All the wolfdogs and wild dogs seemed to have gone crazy, charging recklessly at Luo San. But all the snakes seemed to have gone mad too, and they all sprang up, shooting like arrows towards the dogs. Once they had latched onto their prey, they never let go. The king cobras, on the other hand, remained motionless, spraying mouthfuls of their highly toxic venom at the dogs. In the sky, birds of all kinds had gathered, also rushing towards the dogs like members of a death squad. For a moment, the dogs whimpered, and blood mixed with fur rained to the ground.
Even so, all the dogs still relentlessly pounced on Luo San. Although they were stopped again and again, although both eyes had been pecked out, although they had been poisoned, and although their bodies were bloody and mangled, Luo San watched all of this in a daze, while the passing students also watched Luo San, who was at the centre of this group of animals, in a daze.
Finally, everything returned to silence. All the wild dogs lay motionless and dying, while the snakes began to retreat rapidly, leaving only the birds in the sky hovering. Luo San was unharmed, but he was covered in blood and still in shock.
‘Xiaosan, are you okay?’ As Luo San was in a daze, Shen Yuan ran all the way to him. Seeing him covered in blood, Shen Yuan’s voice was tinged with alarm and trembled slightly, her eyes flashing with anxiety and concern. It turned out that after returning to the dormitory just now, the more Shen Yuan thought about it, the more uneasy she became, so she rushed out of the dormitory to chase after Luo San. At this time, Shen Yuan’s cheeks were flushed from running, which made her skin even whiter, and she was breathing rapidly from the intense running, but to Luo San, it looked like she was exhaling like a lotus flower. Looking at Shen Yuan in front of him, who was panting and asking questions, Luo San felt like the happiest person in the world. But then he quickly came back to his senses and said to Shen Yuan, ‘I’m fine, but I’m covered in the blood of those dogs. Those dogs were coming at me, but they were repelled by the snakes and birds. I’m just wondering why those dogs were coming at me.’
Hearing Luo San’s words, Shen Yuan’s face suddenly became grave. ‘Let’s go. It’s not convenient to talk here, so come with me,’ said Shen Yuan, pulling Luo San away from the school grounds.
‘From now on, no matter day or night, you are not allowed to leave my side for one step.’ While waiting for a taxi outside the school gate, Shen Yuan said to Luo San without any room for discussion.
‘Why?’
“Don’t ask me why, I don’t want to say it yet. Just do as I say.’
‘If I don’t leave your side, where will we live?‘
’We’ll get a room.‘
’Get a room? How can…‘
’Okay, don’t ask.‘ Shen Yuan interrupted Luo San as he pulled open the door of the taxi that had stopped in front of them.
Soon the taxi pulled up to a hotel and the two of them got in. Shen Yuan really did go inside and get a room, and Luo San had no choice but to follow.
’Xiaosan, now you can ask whatever you want to know,’ After closing the door and taking a good look at the room, Shen Yuan said to Luo San.
‘We’re staying here tonight? Isn’t that a bit inappropriate?’ Luo San still couldn’t get used to this.
‘What? I don’t mind, but you do?’
‘That’s not what I meant, don’t get me wrong.’ Hearing Shen Yuan say this, Luo San hurriedly explained, ‘I’m afraid of the rumours, it won’t do you any good.’
Shen Yuan was silent for a long time before she spoke: ‘Thank you, Xiaosan. But these things don’t matter to me. Okay, don’t dwell on this anymore. Just listen to me from now on and don’t leave my side. I know you’re going to ask why.’ Seeing that Luo San seemed about to ask again, Shen Yuan interrupted him immediately, ‘A year ago, my boyfriend and I went to investigate something that happened 57 years ago, but a few days later, he was killed by a pack of wild dogs, a pack of dogs controlled by someone. If it weren’t for the snakes and birds today, you would have already died on the spot.”
After listening to Shen Yuan’s account, Luo San realized that a year ago, Shen Yuan had set out to investigate the case from 57 years ago with her boyfriend Xiao Ziyu. However, on the second day of the investigation, Xiao Ziyu suddenly appeared in front of her and took off a jade pendant from his neck and hung it around her neck. It was not without pathos, but with a firm gaze, he said to her, ‘The flowers I gave you before were all useless, but this is different. You wear it well and never take it off. As long as you wear it, no one can harm you. The events of 57 years ago can only be carried out quietly now. The school is full of all kinds of people, so you have to be careful. If something happens to me, just pretend you didn’t see it. Take care of yourself while I’m gone. Oh, and keep this. You might need it.’ The boy said this and then handed Shen Yuan a worn-out notebook.
After saying these words, which seemed like his last words, the boy immediately turned around and left. “Hey…” Shen Yuan wanted to call out to him, but he only stopped in his tracks and turned back, saying, “Remember, from now on you don’t know me.” The look in his eyes was still desolate but firm.
That afternoon, Shen Yuan heard someone say that a boy was walking on campus when he suddenly encountered a pack of mad dogs and was bitten to death on the spot. Hearing this news, Shen Yuan’s tears poured down. This was the first time she had shed tears since she was ten years old, for a boy who gave up his life to protect her safety.
‘I see. Shen Yuan, I’m sorry.‘ Luo San saw that although Shen Yuan seemed to be fine on the surface, there was a sadness in her eyes. He knew that he had stirred up her sad past, and wanted to comfort her but didn’t know how.
’You don’t need to be sorry. If something happened to you, I would feel bad. After all, I knew that this matter was dangerous, but I dragged you into it anyway. He was also dragged into this incident and died. If something happens to you, then I…‘ Shen Yuan didn’t say anything more. Luo San understood what she meant, but didn’t know how to say it. For a moment, there was dead silence in the room.
’By the way, Shen Yuan, those dogs were manipulated, as were the snakes and birds. Who is the manipulator?’ Luo San finally found a topic to break the almost suffocating silence.
‘I don’t know either. It just seems that the situation is more serious than we thought.”
As the street lamps outside the window lit up one by one, a heavy rainstorm suddenly arrived, and the raindrops were clattering against the window glass. Lightning flashed across the night sky. Luo San was awakened by the loud thunder. He looked at his watch and saw that it was already past 8:00 p.m. He had slept the entire day away.
Vaguely, Luo San heard sobbing nearby, so sad and plaintive. Turning his head, Luo San saw Shen Yuan holding an old book and weeping, her shoulders shaking as she cried out in such sadness and helplessness. Luo San suddenly felt an urge to embrace her and comfort her, but he finally just quietly reached for a tissue and handed it to Shen Yuan.
Chapter 9: Doomsday Crisis
Due to the heavy rain, the two did not want to go out, so they ate instant noodles in the hotel while watching TV. The news at this time was broadcasting some of the day’s hot events. Luo San listened while thinking about the events of the past few days, when suddenly the TV came to life with the words: ‘Today, a giant green-haired turtle suddenly appeared on the Funan River, leading a parade of more than a thousand baby turtles, triggering a crowd of onlookers.’
Luo San immediately turned his attention to the TV. Due to the heavy rain over the past few days, the water level of the Funan River had risen sharply, and the river was yellow and muddy. Just above the murky surface of the river, a large green object was floating. As the camera zoomed in, the green object on the river surface was a huge green-haired turtle, with a body that was four metres wide. Around it were nearly a thousand green-haired turtles of various sizes, with the larger ones the size of a washbasin and the smaller ones only the size of a palm. These green-haired turtles surrounded the huge green-haired turtle like the stars surrounding the moon.
The giant green turtle on TV drifts downstream with the baby turtles, and after a while, it turns around and swims upstream. From the TV screen, you can see that the location is around Dongfeng Bridge. Because of the appearance of the giant green turtle, the two sides of the river are full of onlookers, talking and arguing. Occasionally, someone shouts at the giant turtle, but it seems to have not heard, and continues to float with the baby turtles. Suddenly a black object appears on the screen, flying straight at the giant turtle and smashing onto its back with a loud bang, bouncing up and down. The giant turtle continues swimming without even looking up, as if it were all irrelevant. At this point, the TV camera pans to the crowd of onlookers, and a middle-aged woman, beaming, speaks with exaggerated language directly into the camera lens: ‘This turtle has been here since this morning, floating on the water’s surface the whole time, never sinking. I have never seen so many turtles this big in my life. Do you think something is wrong?”
The TV screen then switched to a middle-aged man talking enthusiastically into the camera: ’This giant turtle is so huge, and the Funan River is not wide, with a depth of no more than two metres. It is impossible for such a huge turtle to survive. So I conclude that this giant turtle is an immigrant, and it should have entered the Funan River from Leshan along the Yangtze River, and then travelled up the Funan River to Chengdu…’
‘No way. There’s a dam on the Funan River. How could this green-furred turtle possibly have climbed over the dam to get here?’ A woman on the TV immediately interrupted the man.
A debate broke out between the two, and the TV camera recorded it all. Suddenly, an old man appeared on the TV screen, ragged clothes, full of white hair, acting like a madman, pushing and shoving people on the riverbank: ’Disaster is upon us, it’s going to happen soon, what are you still looking at? What are you still looking at? Hurry home, hurry home to see your family one last time. No one can escape, everyone must die, everyone must die.‘
The old man rambled on and on, repeating the same words over and over again. The reporter chased after him, but he didn’t get anything out of him. So the TV screen changed again, and at that moment, Luo San saw the figure of an albino flash across the TV screen.
’Shen Yuan!’
‘Don’t shout, I saw it. We’ll go to the scene right away.‘
’Lu tou na hu dai yu. Lu tou na hu dai yu. Lu tou na hu dai yu…’ As they left the riverbank, Luo San kept repeating this strange sentence.
Just now, when the two of them arrived at the riverbank, it had completely darkened. Although there were street lamps, the river surface was still dark and they could not see anything clearly. Even so, the riverbank was still packed with people who had heard the news. In this dim environment, Luo San and Shen Yuan were unable to find any trace of the albino, but they did run into the crazy old man they had seen on TV, walking around in circles and shouting, ‘Disaster is coming, disaster is coming soon, Chengdu is going to collapse, what are you still looking at? What are you still looking at?…’
‘Chengdu?‘ Luo San and Shen Yuan exchanged a glance and immediately stepped forward to stop the old man. “Sir, what do you mean by that? What is going to bring disaster? What exactly is ”Chengdu’? Why do you say that ‘Chengdu’ is going to collapse?’
The old man lowered his feet, looked at Luo San and Shen Yuan with a smile, and suddenly pointed his finger at their noses, laughing strangely, ‘Lu tou na hu dai yu, Lu tou na hu dai yu…’
Luo San heard him repeat this sentence over and over again. He wanted to ask something else, but the old man turned around and walked away. All the way along, he kept pointing at the people passing by and muttering the phrase ‘Lu tou na hu dai yu’.
‘Lutou Nahu Dried Fish?‘ Luo San muttered, turning his head to look at Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan shook his head: “I don’t know what it means either. Maybe it’s a curse, a curse related to Chengdu.”
’A curse? Never mind, never mind, this kind of thing will make people think of death. Let’s just go and ask Professor Wu.’
As soon as the taxi stopped in front of the dormitory where Professor Wu lived, Luo San immediately jumped out and went straight to the dormitory, pushing the door open. Inside the dormitory, Professor Wu was reading a book. Luo San’s appearance seemed to startle him, and the book in his hand dropped to the ground with a ‘pop’.
‘Damn it, don’t you know how to knock?’ Professor Wu said, complaining as he saw Luo San come in, and hurriedly gathered up a pile of books on the table. ‘Go ahead, what else do you want from me?’
‘We’ve made a new discovery.‘ Luo San didn’t wait for Professor Wu to finish tidying up before immediately telling him about his experience after parting with Professor Wu yesterday afternoon.
’I’ve said it before, I told you not to investigate the 57-year-old murder case anymore, it’s too dangerous. Now you’ve been targeted. This time you escaped, but next time you won’t be so lucky.‘ Professor Wu said this, and suddenly stared at Shen Yuan, “Girl, you and Xiaosan investigated this together, so how come those people only bothered Xiaosan and not you?”
’I don’t know. You’re not suspecting me, are you? If I wanted to do Xiaosan harm, there would be plenty of opportunities, why bother getting a pack of dogs involved?’
‘It definitely wasn’t Shen Yuan, Professor Wu, you’re being paranoid.‘
’I was just asking casually, Xiaosan, what’s your hurry? Never mind that, what was that strange sentence you just said?‘ “Lu tou na hu daiyu.” Luo San was afraid that Professor Wu wouldn’t understand, so he wrote out the words specifically.
’Lu tou na hu daiyu?’ Professor Wu muttered, lost in thought.
‘Xiaosan, you wrote that sentence incorrectly.‘ While Luo San was racking his brains, Professor Wu had already found several books from the shelf and handed Luo San a few words written on paper.
Luo San saw that the paper had six words written on it: Rutou Nahudaiyu.
’What does this mean?”
Looking at this passage, Professor Wu did not directly answer Luo San’s question, but handed him a book.
It was a story from a book called Yizhou Ji, written during the Southern and Northern Dynasties and included in the Taiping Yulan.
There was an old woman living in Qiongdu County. She was poor and lonely, and every time she ate something, there was a small snake in her bed, wearing horns on its head. The old woman felt sorry for it and fed it. As it grew a little, it grew more than a zhang (about 3.3 metres). The old woman had a fine horse, and the snake sucked it dry. The old woman was angry and told the snake to leave. The old woman said, ‘It’s under the bed.’
The young man immediately dug up the ground, but the bigger he dug, the less he could see. He was furious and killed the old woman. The snake then spoke to the young man with a spiritual voice, saying angrily, ‘Why did you kill my mother? You must avenge her.’ After that, every night, they could hear the sound of wind, for about 40 days. The people were all shocked when they met each other, saying, ‘Your head is suddenly wearing a fish head!’ That night, the 40-li area around the city suddenly sank into a lake, which the locals called the ‘Sinking River’.
‘That saying comes from here. In this story, the meaning of the saying is easy to understand: the entire Qiongdu County was going to sink, so when the people met, they noticed that the other person’s head had turned into the shape of a fish’s head. But what does this have to do with Chengdu?’
‘Qiongdu County in this story disappeared since the Han Dynasty and sank completely, but the lake formed above it still exists today, which is now the Qionghai Lake near Xichang. We now find this story amazing, but the historical facts are not at all amazing. The disappearance of Qiongdu County and the emergence of Qionghai Lake were both caused by an earthquake that caused the entire city to collapse.’
‘You mean, when the old man said this, he was referring to an earthquake like this one that Chengdu will face?‘
’That’s what he meant. He said that Chengdu will collapse and no one will be able to escape, which means that Chengdu will face a strong earthquake and the entire city will sink into the lake.‘
’Xiaosan, Professor Wu, this is just the words of a crazy man, you can’t be serious?’
‘I believe what he says. Girl, do you think I’m old enough to believe in the words of a crazy old man for no reason? I believe him because, first, he is definitely not an ordinary crazy old man, and second, because various signs indicate that disaster is imminent in Chengdu.‘
’What signs?‘ Luo San and Shen Yuan asked in unison.
’The green-haired giant turtle.‘
’Green-haired giant turtle? What kind of sign is that?’
‘It’s not the first time a giant green-haired turtle has appeared in Chengdu. According to historical records, whenever a giant green-haired turtle appears in Chengdu, a major disaster is sure to follow. Li Furong wrote about something similar in his book ‘Yingyu Nang’ at the end of the Kangxi period. Wang Shizhen also talked about this magical giant turtle in his book ‘Longshu Yuwen.’
‘How could an earthquake cause a city to sink underwater?’ A voice suddenly sounded at the door. Luo San turned around and saw that it was Yan Qingbo pushing the door open. ’Professor Wu, I don’t quite agree with your theory that a major disaster will happen in Chengdu. You’d better give me a convincing reason, or I’ll take you to the police station for spreading rumours. Haha… Every day you’ll be punished to help me with my research. Hahaha…’
‘The Book of the Later Han only records that Qiongdu County ‘sank into the mud’ and does not mention how it sank underwater due to an earthquake.‘
Luo San saw that Professor Wu’s words were becoming more and more serious, and couldn’t help but ask worriedly, “Professor Wu, what do you think is the likelihood of a major earthquake in Chengdu?”
’Fifty percent.‘
’That means there is still a fifty percent chance that there won’t be a major earthquake.’
‘There is a 50% chance that a major earthquake will not occur, but there is a possibility that other disasters will occur, such as floods, massive floods that will turn the entire city of Chengdu into a sea. That would also be consistent with what the old man said, ‘Your head will suddenly be wearing a fish’.‘
’So are we just waiting to die?‘
’Of course not,’ Yan Qingbo interrupted, ’we can escape to other places.’
‘If it’s an earthquake that can bring down the whole of Chengdu, then it doesn’t matter where you run to. The earth will be destroyed. That’s what the old man meant when he said that no one will escape.‘
’Professor Wu, what do you mean? The 1999 doomsday legend? It’s only 1998, okay? You should wait another year before proclaiming the end of the world.’ Yan Qingbo still didn’t quite believe it.
‘If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten that the end of the world is approaching. This disaster in Chengdu may be the beginning of the apocalypse, or it may be part of it, or it may even be the whole thing.‘ Professor Wu saw that everyone was dejected, so he quickly changed his tone, “Of course, there is a way to avoid this disaster. It all depends on what we do.”
’Professor Wu, are you saying that this disaster can be avoided?’ Luo San anxiously urged, ’Then tell us what to do quickly, and see if we can help?’
‘I don’t know either. We’ll just have to take things as they come.‘
’Yan, why did you suddenly come to see Professor Wu?‘ Shen Yuan, who had not spoken up until then, suddenly interrupted.
’It’s about a few stones.‘
Chapter 10: A Remote Phone
’Stones? Are you talking about the stone in the women’s toilet in Building 4?’
‘Shen Yuan, don’t just remember the stone in the women’s toilet in Building 4. These stones of mine are all famous in Chengdu.”
It turned out that since the previous day, a strange thing had been happening in the park in the southern suburbs of Chengdu: large numbers of stray dogs had been flooding into the park, wandering around inside, and occasionally attacking visitors. The park management had deployed a large number of staff to try to drive the dogs out, but with little effect.
The park management had no choice but to report the matter to the police. At this time, the police also received a report of a large number of stray dogs flooding into a courtyard on Shimen Street, which was the same courtyard where strange things had happened at the well the other day. After connecting the two cases, the higher-ups felt that the problem was more serious and demanded that the cause be immediately identified. Yan Qingbo and his colleagues then went to the southern suburbs to find out what was going on.
In the southern suburbs park, they heard from a sanitation worker that a few days ago, while he was cleaning the park, he heard someone asking where Five Stone was.
According to the sanitation worker, the group was more than ten men, and they asked everyone where the Five Stone was. The people they asked all told them that the Five Stone was in the north of Chengdu, a place name.
Later, the group finally found the Five Stone. It is said that in the past, there were five stones stacked together, but now only one stone is partially exposed, so it is not easy to find.
The sanitation worker also said that after they left, a man who had been sitting by the pond got up and made a phone call. It seemed that the content of the phone call was to tell someone named ‘A Mo’ that the Five Stone Rocks had been exposed and to be careful of the Zhi Ji Stone in the Cultural Park.
Soon after, a large number of feral dogs appeared in the park, gathering in the exact location near the Five Stone Rocks.
“Something about this is fishy, so I plan to ask Professor Wu to help me find out the background of the Zhi Ji Stone and the Five Stone Rocks.’
‘In fact, this involves not just the machine stone and the five stones, but also the stone pillars,’ Professor Wu said seriously to the three of them. ’You know that Chengdu is a plain, and there are no stones here. These stones all came to Chengdu from elsewhere. Archaeologists call it the ancient Shu Dashi cultural site. But judging from the historical records, these stones are far from being just a Dashi cultural site…’
Before Professor Wu could finish his sentence, Yan Qingbo’s phone rang. After answering the call, he said to Luo San, ‘I’ve found something. Let’s go out.’
The four of them went to Tianya Stone South Street in the east of the city. The street lamps had broken down at some point, and the entire alley was lit up like day by the flashes of lightning. There were groups of stray dogs of all kinds on the street, and the ground was covered in dog poop.
The four of them hid in the darkness and saw a black car speeding up and stopping in front of a dilapidated wooden bungalow.
The front door of the car opened, and a man quickly got out, opened the back door of the car with an umbrella, and said carefully, ‘Your Highness Qi, we’re here.’
The King of Qi got out of the car, looked up, looked at the doorplate, snorted lightly, ‘Governor Kang is good at finding places, I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of tricks he can play.’
The King of Qi quickly walked into the dilapidated wooden bungalow. Luo San and the others quietly walked to the other side of the bungalow, from where they could see everything in the room. The King of Qi wore a silver mask on his face, and with his robes on, it was impossible to tell who he was. Everyone in the room was kneeling on the ground. The middle-aged man leading the group said respectfully, ‘Your servant, Commander of Yizhou, Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Military Region Kang Changsheng, and all the officials in the household, greet Your Highness the King of Qi.’
‘Skip it.‘ The King of Qi didn’t even look at Kang Changsheng and the others, and went straight to a place in the room covered with a canvas.
’What is that?‘
’Your Highness, this is precisely the reason why I asked Your Highness to come here at this hour today. Your Highness, please look…’ Kang Changsheng said, and ordered someone to remove the canvas. A stone appeared in front of Luo San and the others. The stone looked no different from an ordinary stone, more than two metres high, with its roots deep in the ground. At the base of the stone, there was also a brick-built groove…
Kang Changsheng stood up, walked up to the stone, and while stroking it, said, ‘Your Highness, this is not an ordinary stone. It is the Tianya Stone, a famous giant stone in Chengdu…’
Seeing that the King of Qi did not reply, Kang Changsheng introduced it: ‘The Tianya Stone is a strange stone in Chengdu. It is 2.13 metres high, 0.48 metres wide at the top and 1.05 metres wide at the bottom, and 0.27 metres thick. Ming Lu Chen’s ‘Miscellaneous Records of Shu’: ‘Tianya Stone is located next to Baoguang Temple at the east city gate, and is covered by a pavilion.’ Your humble servant can confirm that the Tianya Stone recorded in the ‘Miscellaneous Records of Shu’ is this stone. Regarding the origin of this stone, ancient legends say that it is one of the stone railings of the Heavenly Palace, or that it is something created by Nuwa to mend the sky. However, your humble servant believes that these are all the words of the ignorant masses and cannot be trusted. The real key is that this stone is deeply embedded in the ground and its roots cannot be seen. In his essay ‘Man Ji’ (Random Notes), Zhu Bingqi of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) wrote that Tianya Stone is located in the eastern part of Shucheng, two zhang (about 3.3 metres) high and half a zhang thick, buried in the soil, and that if you tug at it, it will shake, but if you shake it, you can’t find its roots. Apart from what is written in ancient books, in reality, it is also difficult to see the roots of this stone. Someone once wanted to uproot it, but after digging for several days, they still couldn’t see its roots, so they gave up.
‘Anything else?‘ the King of Qi asked.
’In addition, it seems that the stone is radioactive. The Yijiu Biography once described Tianya Stone as follows: ‘If a person sits on it, their feet will swell and they will be unable to walk. Even now, no one dares to set foot on it or sit on it. Just now, someone was asked to try it, and it is true. The most crucial point about this stone is that once someone digs at it, it will cause strange movements of wind and thunder.’
‘Hmph!’ Qi Wang stared coldly at Kang Changsheng and said, ’My father sent me to Chengdu not to help him collect strange stones. You should know what will happen if you can’t give me a satisfactory answer tonight.’
‘This is my subordinate, Fei Jishi, who has studied the ancient Yue Du scriptures for many years and has made some progress. Let him talk to His Highness in detail.”
The King of Qi looked coldly at Fei Jishi, who was standing next to Kang Changsheng, and slowly said, ’The Dongfang family has misled my empire for a hundred years. I have punished them on behalf of heaven and killed them in their house in the west of the city, filling them in the eye of the sea. I hope you will not become the second Dongfang.’
‘I understand,’ replied the Chief Cook, lying on the ground. “This stone is actually one of the sacred stones that guard the source of the Nine Provinces…”
Kang Changsheng suddenly interrupted him, saying, ’Your Highness, please move. There are many inconveniences here. Please come to the palace, and I will report in detail.’
When Luo San and the others snuck back to the main road, the Qi King’s car had already left a long time ago, and the area around the stone was heavily guarded, making it impossible to find out what was going on. So the group discussed it and returned to Professor Wu’s dormitory.
‘The Qi King of the Great Tang Empire and the Yizhou Governor-General have both been mobilised, and the people who drove the wild dogs have also appeared near these few stones. It seems that these stones in Chengdu are not simple.’ As soon as he sat down, Luo San eagerly expressed his opinion.
‘Those stones are not simple. They are all surrounded by mysterious legends. There used to be temples on top of stones like the Zhiji Stone and Tianya Stone, and ordinary people would go to these temples to pray for safety when they had a minor injury or illness.’
Professor Wu took out a few books and threw them in front of everyone. ‘These stones have similarities and differences, so let’s start with the stone pillars. When it comes to stone pillars, we can’t leave out Du Fu’s “Stone Pillars”. Xiaosan, read “Stone Pillars” again.’
“Oh, okay. Don’t you see the stone pillars at the western gate of Yizhou City, both tall and squat? It has been passed down since ancient times that they are the eyes of the sea, with traces of waves etched by moss. It often gets wet in the rain, but this is hard to understand. I fear it was once the tomb of a nobleman, and the standing stone is still there as a marker. It is a pity that the common people are so easily deceived, just as the humble official flatters the emperor. The political changes have gone astray and lost their way, and they just sit back and watch the downfall of the empire while receiving favours. Alas, the stone stumps have a false reputation, and later generations don’t even know about them. How can a strong man throw them into the sky, so that people don’t doubt the roots?’
‘There are two key points to note in this poem. The first is that it has been passed down since ancient times as a line from Haiyan. The meaning of this line is that the bottom of the stalagmite is the eye of the sea. As for what the eye of the sea is, I will explain it in a moment. The second is that I need to explain the line ‘When it rains a lot, it often gets chilly, and this matter is difficult to understand and discuss in a daze’. What is difficult to understand here is the word ‘chilly’. ‘Chilly’ is the ancient Persian name for a gemstone, which is a Chinese transliteration of the Semitic or Arabic language. Ancient Chinese classics often used ‘瑟瑟’ to refer to precious stones or ‘真珠’ (pearls). After the Ming Dynasty, it mainly referred to artificially made coloured glass beads or beads made from burnt materials. Once we understand the meaning of ‘瑟瑟’, we will know very clearly that the meaning of this verse is: Small beads often appear near the stalagmites after rain. Du Fu didn’t understand this either, so he said, ‘This matter is difficult to understand.’
‘Professor Wu, is it true that small beads appear around stone stalks after rain in the summer? Could it be that Du Fu was mistaken?’ After hearing Professor Wu’s words, Luo San naturally thought of the small beads that Shen Yuan had picked up outside the Si Jiao, and couldn’t help but eagerly want to know more.
‘It is recorded in many ancient books that small beads appear around stone stalks after rain. For example, in the fourth volume of Duan Chengshi’s ‘Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang’ (酉陽杂俎续集), the chapter ‘Misunderstanding’ (贬误) mentions: ‘In Shushitun Street, during heavy summer rain, small multicoloured beads often appear. The ‘Chengdu Records’ also mentions: ‘In the land of stone stalks, after rain there are always small beads, some green and some yellow like millet, and there are also small holes, through which you can thread a silk thread.’ There are many records like this, and I think many people have seen it with their own eyes. Even I think that Du Fu lived in Chengdu for many years, and the stone stalks were located on the necessary passageway for him to enter and leave the city, so he should have seen these small beads with his own eyes after rain in the summer. Unfortunately, the stone stalks are gone now, otherwise we could also go look for these small beads.’
‘You don’t need to look for them, I have them here,‘ Shen Yuan said, taking out the small beads wrapped in paper that he had picked up outside the Sijiao.
’Are these real? Where did you pick them up?‘ Yan Qingbo held a bead in his hand, his face full of disbelief.
’In the woods outside the Sijiao,’ Luo Sandaizai Shen Yuan replied, ‘Of the three things Professor Shi asked us to investigate, the first one was a case about a puddle by a boulder. We found that the boulder is located in the women’s toilet of Sijiao. Every summer when it rains heavily, not only will there be these small beads next to the boulder, but also a bottomless puddle will form.’
“It seems you have gained a lot. In the “Record of Chengdu”, it is said: ’The stone shoots are two or three feet long. Every summer in June when it rains heavily, they often become sunken as a hole in the ground, with clear water. If you measure it with a bamboo pole, it is unfathomably deep. If you tie a rope to the stone and throw it down, the further you throw it, the more it goes on. After three or five days, it suddenly disappears. In the Jiayou spring, a bullock cart rolled over the ground and suddenly sank, and you couldn’t reach it even if you measured. The explanation for this miraculous situation in the Chengdu Records is that the elders were very surprised, which is why there is the theory of the eye of the sea. In other words, the locals found this puddle very strange, which is why there is the theory that there is an eye of the sea under the stone. The ‘Records of Customs’ says, ‘The people of Shu say: “To the west of our state there is a stone pillar, a heap of heaven and earth, to keep the eye of the sea still. If it moves, there will be great floods. ” In other words, the stone pillar to the west of Chengdu city is a heap of heaven and earth, used to keep the eye of the sea still. If it moves, there will be great floods.’
“So the puddle at the stone pillar is exactly the same as the first case Professor Shi asked us to investigate?’
‘That’s right. That’s why Shi Wumu said that the stone pillars and the boulders of the four religions are from the same origin. Okay, let’s talk about the other stones. Now let’s talk about the branch machine stone first. I think we’d better start with a poem. Xiaosan…‘
’Get lost, just get to the point, don’t start with a poem again.’
‘That son of a bitch is a Chinese literature major, what a vulgarity,‘ Professor Wu complained, “never mind, let’s get straight to the point. This branch machine stone…”
’B…B…‘ Professor Wu was interrupted again by Yan Qingbo’s phone ringing, “What? Something’s happened at the branch machine stone, okay, I’ll be right over.”
’Stop for a second, stop the car.’ As the taxi passed Hejiang Pavilion, Professor Wu suddenly told the driver to stop the car.
‘What? They’re waiting for me over there.‘
’Aren’t you interested in the stone stalagmites? I’ll show you the stone stalagmites now.’ Professor Wu got out of the car and walked towards a small garden next to Hejiang Pavilion. ’This is Sishu Garden, which was built during the comprehensive renovation of Funan River.’
‘The stalagmites aren’t here, are they?‘ Luo San asked in surprise, quickly scanning the entire garden with his eyes. The garden was very small, surrounded by greenery, with a few two-metre-high boulders towering in the middle, from which water was constantly spouting.
’The stalagmites aren’t here, but this Sishu Garden was built using stalagmites as the inspiration,’ said Professor Wu, looking at the boulders. ’The combination of stone and water obviously draws on the legend of Haiyan.’
For a moment, no one spoke, and they all looked at the stones in silence.
‘I suddenly have a question. From what I saw in the Si Shu Garden just now, there are six giant stones here. I also remember an old man telling me that there were originally six stone pillars, but only two remain. In the end, only half of one is buried in the well. What’s going on?’ Luo San couldn’t help but ask Professor Wu as they got into the car.
Professor Wu hesitated for a moment before answering: ‘I don’t know what’s going on either. However, science fiction writer Mr Tong Enzheng has a theory in his novel called ‘Stalagmite Xing’ that you can refer to: that the stalagmites are a kind of message receiver left on Earth by an alien civilisation. Every so often, they will return to the universe, and over thousands of years, they have fired a few into the sky one after the other. The rest have been left behind due to damage. They are made of a special material that just looks like stone, but inside is full of high-tech stuff.‘
’Do you think this theory is credible?’ Luo San didn’t quite agree with this explanation.
‘It’s somewhat believable.‘
The car soon arrived at the Cultural Park. The police officer on the scene told Yan Qingbo that when they responded to the call, they found a foreign man and asked him questions, but the guy just turned around and ran. After they stopped him, they found a very powerful bomb in his backpack. The police were worried about a problem, so they sent a large number of officers to conduct a comprehensive search inside and outside the park and nearby. Finally, they found trampling marks under a small hill that was completely sealed off.
’It was right here,’ The policeman led Yan Qingbo and the others to the foot of a small hill in the park.
‘What’s that?’ At that moment, a flash of lightning streaked across the night sky, and Luo San noticed that there was a pavilion on top of the small hill, and there was an object shining brightly inside the pavilion.
‘The Zhiji Stone,’ Professor Wu replied after looking in the direction Luo San was looking.
‘A powerful bomb was just found up there, and it’s been disarmed now. Go up and take a look,’ Yan Qingbo urged.
There is a path to the pavilion at the top of the mountain, but the sides of the path are overgrown with weeds, making walking difficult. The area around it is desolate and dilapidated.
After finally arriving in front of the pavilion, Luo San finally saw the Zhiji Stone. At this time, it was under the protection of a glass cover, standing on a base with the words ‘Zhiji Stone’ written on it, absorbing the essence of the heavens and the earth, and the light of the sun and the moon. The reflected light Luo San saw just now from below the mountain slope was emitted from the glass cover inside the pavilion.
The stone is more than five feet high, purplish in colour, nearly one metre wide, and has flaked in places. There are also many small holes in the surface, and near the base there is a pit the size of a bowl, the mouth of which is smooth, as if the stone had once been soft and someone had dug a piece of it out like tofu.
“Professor Wu, you might as well tell us the origin of this stone, that way it might be more helpful for us to make a judgment,’
Professor Wu nodded and insisted on starting with the poem: ‘The Minghe chapter of the Minghe poem by Song Zhiwen from the Tang Dynasty contains the lines “Minghe can be seen but not approached, I wish to ride a raft and ask for directions, and also take the Zhiji stone and visit the soothsayer in Chengdu”, which tells the story of the Zhiji stone. This stone is far more famous in Chengdu than the Stonehenge or Tianya Stone. The Jingchu Suishi Ji (An Account of Seasonal Customs in Jingchu) tells the story of Zhang Qian, who was ordered by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to find the source of the Yangtze River. Zhang Qian travelled for many months by boat until he arrived at a place with a city wall like a prefecture, where he saw a woman weaving in a room and a man leading a cow to drink from the river. Zhang Qian asked where he was, and was told to ask Yan Junping. At the same time, the woman who was weaving gave Zhang Qian a stone to bring back. After Zhang Qian returned, he went to Shu and asked Yan Junping, but Yan Junping said to the stone, ‘On such and such a day of such and such a month, a guest star entered the constellations of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. Could it be you?’ And Dongfang Shuo identified the stone Zhang Qian had brought back as the Weaver Girl’s support stone.
Professor Wu paused for a moment and continued: ‘What I just said is only the origin of this stone. In fact, the spiritual power of this stone does not lie in its origin, but in its powerful strength. Du Guangting’s ‘Taoist Miracles’ from the Tang Dynasty describes the miraculous nature of the stone in the following way: ‘The Zhiji Stone in the Chengdu divination shop… The Grand Prefect, Guang Gong, was curious about strange things and collected many antiquities. He ordered workers to take a piece of the stone and use it to make a vessel to show its strangeness. While the workers were carving, they suddenly felt dizzy and fell to the side of the stone, and this happened three times. The king knew that it was a magical object and no longer dared to take it. To this day, the marks of the engravings remain. He then had someone dig underneath it, but there was a sudden wind and thunder, and the space became dark, so he dared not violate it. In other words, this stone, when someone tried to carve a piece off it, the worker inexplicably fainted three times. When someone tried to dig its foundation and excavate it, there was suddenly a wind and thunder, and the world became dark.
‘This stone is actually related to the giant stone in the women’s toilet of the Four Teachings Academy, and whoever tries to do anything to it will trigger unusual changes in the weather and the sky,’ Luo San interrupted.
Professor Wu nodded: ‘That’s right. In fact, there is a similar record about the stone in the book Taoist Miracles. Okay, let’s continue talking about the Zhiji Stone. In the past, this stone was always located on Zhiji Stone Street next to Kuanzhai Alley. A temple was built on the street to worship this stone, and many locals used to come here to burn incense and make wishes, hoping to be protected by the sacred stone. In 1958, the stone was moved to the Cultural Park.’
‘This stone has such a big story?‘ the policeman exclaimed.
’What was the purpose of the foreigner who wanted to blow up the stone?‘
’I was thinking that if an ordinary person tried to dig at the foundation of the stone, it would trigger lightning and cause the sky and clouds to turn black, and if it were blown up, it would cause an unprecedented disaster.”
Luo San immediately understood: ’You mean that blowing up this stone could trigger a major earthquake?’
‘There is that possibility. But,‘ Professor Wu suddenly laughed, “they miscalculated because this stone is fake.”
’Fake?‘ Everyone was shocked.
’That’s right,’ Professor Wu’s smile grew even wider, ’I just told you that if you dug up this stone, it would trigger lightning and cause the sky and clouds to change colour, but this stone was moved here, and in 1958 there were no particularly big disasters in Chengdu.’
Professor Wu looked around: ‘Have you noticed? There are no stray dogs here. At this time, there were quite a few stray dogs gathered near the Tianya Stone, the stone pillars and the Five Stone, although it is not known what the people driving the stray dogs were aiming for, but it is enough to prove how much they valued those stones. However, this stone seems to have attracted no attention, only the idiot foreigner who knows nothing about it values it so highly.’
‘So where is the real Zhiji Stone?‘
’The Zhiji Stone should still be in its original location and has not been moved. It is likely that someone with great powers, under the guise of relocation, got a fake Zhiji Stone placed on the rockery in the park, so that people would mistake it for the real thing. The person who did this was very clever and did it without leaving a trace, and it is likely that they had the support of the government at the time.’
Chapter 11: The Sea Eye
‘You have already heard about the supernatural aspects of the Tianya Stone, but I would like to add a few words about this stone.’ After returning to the dormitory, Professor Wu, despite being pressed by everyone to tell them about the supernatural aspects of the other stones, did not bother to take a sip of water and immediately told everyone about the supernatural aspects of the other stones. ’According to the Sichuan Tongzhi, the Tianya Stone is on the west bank of the Fu River. Its stone enters the ground for an unknown amount, and it is more than six feet high and more than five feet around. If someone digs it, there will be strange phenomena such as wind and thunder. In other words, if someone tries to move the Tianya Stone, there will be abnormal weather such as strong winds and thunder.
‘Another stone that can control thunderstorms.’
“Hmm. Finally, let’s talk about the Five Stone. The Five Stone is not the Five Stone Street Office in the north of Chengdu, but a stone located in the southern suburbs park. The Kun Yu Dian (Classic of the Earth) in the Gujin Tushu Jicheng (Comprehensive Collection of Books Ancient and Modern) records in Volume 14 that to the west of the Wanli Bridge in the southern part of the city, there are five stones stacked on top of each other, each over ten feet high and twice as wide. Legend has it that there is a sea eye beneath them, and in the past, when people tried to move the stones, storms would suddenly appear. This theory is also mentioned in the Yibu Tan Zi (Talk of Yibu).
For a moment, Luo San and Shen Yuan both digested the overwhelming amount of information they had received.
In the end, Luo San spoke up: ‘Who put these stones here? Could it really be the legacy of an alien civilisation on Earth? If that’s the case, what was the purpose of leaving these stones behind, and why did they choose Chengdu?’
‘These stones were probably left at the same time by some civilisation unknown to us, possibly an alien civilisation, or perhaps the legacy of the ancient Shu, Sanxingdui civilisation, the latter being more likely,’ Professor Wu replied. ‘Don’t forget, when Shi Wuji gave you the three cases, the key word he left behind was “Chengdu”. And the key pattern for deciphering the word ‘Chengdu’ comes from Sanxingdui.‘
’What the hell is ‘Chengdu’?‘
’Who knows? But one thing to note is that Shi Wuwu said that ‘Chengdu’ is where the country’s pulse is located, so ‘Chengdu’ must be closely related to these stones, and it is even possible that ‘Chengdu’ is one of these stones.‘
’Could it be the Tianya Stone?‘
’It’s hard to say. We still need to continue our investigation.’
Shen Yuan let out a long sigh: ‘The appearance of the giant turtle in the world is a sign of a great disaster, whether it takes the form of an earthquake or a flood, and it is related to the underground waters of Chengdu. Since it is related to water, the sea eye is something that deserves our special attention. Judging from the records in the historical books, the sea eye seems to be a source of danger that needs to be suppressed, so the five stones and the stone stalagmites are the suppressing stones of the sea eye. But what is the sea eye?’
‘From what we know so far, the only way to find out more is to go underground.”
Outside the window, there was a barking sound. In the light of the street lamp, Luo San saw He Wangyu being chased by a pack of stray dogs. Luo San hurriedly beckoned him to come up, but He Wangyu didn’t say anything and darted into the corridor.
As soon as He Wangyu entered the room, he complained, ‘I told you not to investigate what happened 57 years ago, but you didn’t listen. I almost got torn to pieces today. I don’t want to stay at this school anymore, I’m leaving.’
Luo San quickly stepped forward to stop him, but He Wangyu pushed him away and yelled, ‘What do you want me to do! Just because I went with you to investigate this bullshit case! Just stop it, don’t investigate anymore, Xiao Sanzi, do you want me to get attacked by a stray dog again? Do you want Shen Yuan to get into trouble too? I’m telling you, Liu Fufeng has gone missing!‘
’What? Liu is missing? When did it happen?‘
’Today I went to Si Jiao on purpose. On the way back to the dormitory, I passed through the bushes outside Er Jiao and accidentally found Liu’s backpack. I was about to go over there when a stray dog jumped out.’
‘Let’s go take a look. Please show us the way.‘
’No, don’t try to drag me along. I’m not going to follow you crazy people anymore.’ He Wangyu looked at Luo San and the others in alarm, speaking as he backed away, and then pulled open the dormitory door and ran off.
Luo San and Shen Yuan had a brief exchange of words as they hurried to the Second Teaching Building, but they couldn’t find a clue.
Shen Yuan suddenly said, ’Xiaosan, I always feel that there’s something wrong with He Wangyu.’
‘Not only him, but Mu Shigu, I think there’s something wrong with him too. Last time when the Paranormal Society had a meeting, when I mentioned the Great Tang Empire, his expression was quite strange.‘
’Er! Xiao Sizi, then do we have to carry out our future investigations behind their backs?‘
’There’s no need for that. We can tell them anything we find out. We try to stir up the water, so that the fish can’t stay…’
‘Shen Yuan, Xiaosan.‘ Along the way, Luo San and Shen Yuan chatted while looking for Liu Fufeng’s school bag. Unexpectedly, someone called out their names. Both of them were taken aback and turned their heads to see who it was. It was really what they said, and it was Mu Shigu who called them.
’Be careful, the person coming is not good,’ Shen Yuan whispered to Luo San.
‘I know, you be careful too,‘ Luo San whispered in reply, then raised his voice, “Mu Shigu, what a coincidence, why are you here too?”
’I heard He Wangyu say that Liu Fufeng had gone missing. You two didn’t listen to him and insisted on investigating the matter again, so he asked me to come over and talk some sense into you. I know it’s useless trying to persuade you, but seeing you risk your lives like this, I feel like I’m not being a good friend, so I’ve given up and come over to investigate with you.’
After half an hour of searching, the sharp-eyed Shen Yuan finally found the backpack.
‘Let me see what clues there are in her backpack,’ said Mu Shigu, and he grabbed the backpack.
Suddenly Mu Shigu let out a ‘hee hee’ laugh, and Luo San secretly exclaimed, ‘Oh no!’ He suddenly found that his arms were not responding to his commands, and all the organs in his body seemed to be leaving his body.
Why is it so cold all around? Where is this place? Why is there only the sound of rain all around? Luo San tried hard to open his eyes, but found that his eyelids were too heavy to lift. He heard people talking around him, although their voices were drowned out by the rain. But he could still faintly hear an old and terrified voice: ‘How could this be? How could this be? Check everything carefully, did everything dry up? 57 years later, guests came from the southeast, guests came from the southeast, the evil spirits have returned, the evil spirits have returned. Could it be that the prophecy is really coming true?’
‘In reply to your request, Uncle San, apart from these two people, everything else at the scene has dried up.”
Luo San was almost beside himself when he heard the voice of his uncle: ’Why are they fine and why haven’t they turned into mummies? Tell me, why? And where did the other person go? Tell me, tell me.’
‘Your servant reports to you, Third Uncle, that suddenly a thick fog appeared, and in ten seconds or so it had dispersed. By the time we arrived, the scene was already like this.‘
’Fog? You mean you saw a fog?‘ Third Uncle almost shouted.
’Yes, it was a fog.‘
’Did you go into the fog?‘
’No, we didn’t have time.’
‘You pack up. You can’t stay here any longer. Before the snake species come back, fill them all into the sea eye and get it over with.”
Immediately, Luo San felt two people lift him up and run quickly away. In a moment, the two people stopped and Luo San felt that it suddenly became quiet around him.
At this time, Luo San heard a voice say, ’It’s such a pity to die so beautifully.’
Pretty? Luo San suddenly realised that they were talking about Shen Yuan. It seems that Shen Yuan, like himself, is also dead. It turns out that people are conscious after death. I just don’t know what Shen Yuan is thinking now. Does she know that I’m dead?
Luo San was thinking about this when he suddenly heard another voice: ‘This toilet is really strange. Who designed it at the time and put the sea eye here?’
‘Cut the crap, hurry up and throw them down,’ another voice urged.
Luo San felt his body suddenly go up in the air. With a ‘whoosh’ sound, his body hit the water and quickly fell downward. Luo San struggled to open his eyes, but all he felt was his body falling non-stop.
Subconsciously, Luo San grabbed Shen Yuan’s hand. Feeling that they were still falling, and not knowing how long they had fallen for, Luo San finally felt like he had fallen into a body of water.
Although he guessed that there must be a body of water under Chengdu, when he opened his eyes, he was still shocked by the size of the underground body of water!
It was completely an underground ocean. Luo San was thinking when he suddenly felt the water around him rushing. He pulled Shen Yuan next to him, trying to stabilise himself, but Shen Yuan’s body suddenly became incredibly heavy, dragging him rapidly downwards.
The two of them quickly descended, and when it became dark again, Luo San gave up his last efforts. Never mind, just sink… Before Luo San passed out, he seemed to vaguely see an object approaching.
When Luo San woke up, he found himself lying by the edge of a pond.
Shen Yuan was sitting next to him, looking worried, and when she saw him wake up, she forced a smile on her face.
“What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing?‘ Shen Yuan immediately turned his head away.
’Right, what just happened?‘
’You really don’t remember what happened?‘
’Not at all.‘
’Actually, it’s not much. Just now, you suddenly fainted, and then a giant turtle appeared and had a battle with a group of white fish, driving them away. After that, the giant turtle carried us up. It’s just that you never woke up, so I was a little worried about you.’
‘By the way, I clearly remember being injured, so how come I can’t see any signs of it?‘
’You might have remembered it wrong. You were unconscious just now, so maybe the injury was just an illusion.”
Was it an illusion? Luo San didn’t ask any more questions, but surveyed the surroundings.
Chapter 12: The Mystery of the Women’s Book
The pond in front of them seemed to be located in the garden of a house. It was already afternoon, and the house was quiet.
‘Let’s go look around the four sides,‘ Luo San wanted to stand up, but Shen Yuan held him back, “What’s the rush? Let’s rest for a bit.”
’But…‘
’Just keep me company, okay?‘ Shen Yuan looked at the ripples rising in the pond.
’Xiaosan, what is the life you most hope for?’ Shen Yuan lay on the grass and looked up at the sky through the gently swaying willow branches overhead.
‘Me? I don’t really have any hopes. I’ll just take things as they come.‘
’I just hope that I’m not a member of the Feiyemon, then I can honestly be an ordinary little girl and live an ordinary life that I like.”
Luo San turned his head away. Although he could only see half of Shen Yuan’s face, he could still clearly see her sadness. He comforted her, ’Actually, you can completely withdraw from this matter, just ignore it. Then won’t you be able to live an ordinary life?’
‘That’s easier said than done. I can never escape from this.‘
’Why?‘
’Because 57 years ago, the head of the Feiye Sect died a violent death. Due to blood sacrifice, future generations must be involved in this matter.‘
’What happened 57 years ago?”
Shen Yuan turned her head and looked at Luo San, and said indifferently, ’Since you want to know, I’ll tell you.’
The people of the Feiye Sect all had the surname Chen and originated from Xiangxi. In the early Qing Dynasty, Zhang Xianzhong killed countless people in Sichuan, and the entire population of Sichuan was sparse. Therefore, the entire Chen family moved to Longchang and took root here, becoming a large clan. The Chen family developed a set of corpse driving techniques based on the original Xiangxi corpse driving technique, which can not only drive dead bodies, but also even living people.
Shen Yuan told Luo San that in fact, corpse driving is not as simple as the legend makes it out to be, where a talisman is placed on the forehead of the corpse and a bell is rung to guide the corpse forward. In fact, from a modern perspective, corpse driving is a rather advanced science. First, the corpse must be soaked in a special potion to prevent it from decaying temporarily. At the same time, a type of bacteria is implanted in the corpse. Once the bacteria enters the corpse, it will quickly multiply within. When its population reaches a certain level, it can control the limbs of the corpse. When it hears the bell ringer of the corpse chaser, it will reflexively drive the corpse to jump. This type of bacteria will die immediately once it leaves the corpse.
The corpse-driving technique of the Feiye School of Corpse Chasing innovated on the basis of the Xiangxi corpse-driving technique, and developed pills that can contain the bacteria without dying, making the bacteria easy to carry. When implanting the corpse, it only needs to be fed through the corpse’s mouth.
As outsiders and because they were in the remote Longchang County, the Feiye Sect was unaware of the major events in Sichuan for a long time, which greatly affected its development. It would have been enough for the Feiye Sect to leave Longchang County and go to Chengdu to develop, but everyone in the clan believed that Longchang County was the Feiye Sect’s lucky place and that it could never be moved. For this reason, starting in the Yongzheng period, the then head of the Feiye Sect had no choice but to send his youngest brother to Chengdu, where he settled under an assumed name and instructed him and his descendants to forever spy out news for the Feiye Sect.
This younger brother of the head of the Feiye Sect is the direct ancestor of Shen Yuan. Later, the Feiye Sect gradually declined, and only the branch living in Chengdu managed to hold on. However, this branch has always had a small population, with only one male in each generation, and in Shen Yuan’s generation, there was simply only one daughter. As a result, Shen Yuan lost all his options.
‘What about the blood-eating bacteria?’
“The blood-eating bacteria is also a type of bacteria. It was first invented by the Feiye Sect during its long-distance migration to Sichuan as a way to identify relatives. It was used to allow clan members to find each other no matter how far apart they were. But then it mutated, and if the person infected with the blood-eating bacteria did not get the antidote, they would gradually rot with age and eventually die in agony. The most terrifying thing is that this blood-eating bacteria is hereditary.’ Shen Yuan’s tone dropped, ’In the incident 57 years ago, the leader of the Flying Leaf Sect disappeared with the secret formula for the antidote to the blood-eating bacteria. As the blood-eating bacteria had already been planted, Shen Yuan could only keep looking.’
‘Don’t think like that. What can’t be solved in this world? Just like me, I grew up looking like a stupid bird, but I’m still living my life.‘ Luo San said, and brought his large nose close to Shen Yuan’s face.
Looking at the face in front of her, which looked extremely like a bird, Shen Yuan smiled. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and said to Luo San, “Let’s go, let’s go back to school.”
’Leaving already? We’re not going to look at this place?’ Luo San said, and without further ado, he took Shen Yuan’s hand and walked towards the front courtyard of the mansion. “This place must be connected to the Sijiao. If we don’t figure it out and just leave, I’m afraid we’ll regret it for the rest of our lives.”
Without saying a word, Luo San took Shen Yuan and walked towards a room. This room seemed to be a study. On the side by the window, there was a desk with piles of letters on it, and next to it was a bookshelf.
Shen Yuan looked around the room, while Luo San took the opportunity to browse the books on the shelves. He didn’t expect to find them to be all books on linguistic research, with a particular focus on the study of ‘women’s books’. However, it was clear that the owner of the books had read them very carefully, because every book Luo San opened had been marked with red pen. But this kind of book did not interest him, so after a while Luo San threw the book back. Just as he was about to look at something else, a book on the shelf caught his attention again. It was a book called ‘A Collection of Essays on the Study of Baiyue Culture’. Since his conversation with Professor Wu the other day, Luo San’s interest in the Baiyue tribe has increased greatly. Flipping through the cover of the book, he saw that the author had also drawn many places inside. One of the articles was particularly marked in red, as if the owner of the book attached particular importance to it. The title of the article was: ‘On the ancient Yue culture phenomenon reflected in the composition of the “female book” characters’. In the margins of this article, the following words were written in red: ‘Since the “female book” is a remnant of the ancient Yue script, if we understand the meaning of the female book, we can more or less understand the true meaning of “desecrating the scriptures”. My son, remember this and do not forget.’
‘Nüshu’ is something Luo San knows about. It refers mainly to a system of written symbols that was passed down among women in Jiangyong County, Hunan Province, and the surrounding area of Xiayang Township, Daoxian County. This system of written symbols is not known to the local men, and no one learns it. Only the women learn and use it. The women call the system of written symbols they use “nü shu” (women’s script), and the Chinese characters in common use in society are called “nan shu” (men’s script). As for “du jing” (blasphemous scriptures), Luo San quickly associated it with the “Ancient Yue Du Jing” mentioned by Professor Wu. However, judging from the meaning of the article, it turned out that ‘nü shū’ was the remnant of the ancient Yue script, and the owner of the book also believed that it was the key to unlocking the ‘Ancient Yue Sutra’, so he wrote down a special reminder to his son.
Luo San was thinking about it when Shen Yuan suddenly pulled him and pointed to a photo on the wall and said to him, ‘Xiaosan, look at that photo.’
The photo showed a plump middle-aged man. Luo San immediately remembered the middle-aged corpse he had seen in the women’s toilet at Sijiao, and it looked exactly the same as this man.
‘This is the residence of that Dongfang Bai. It seems that he drifted from the pond here to the women’s toilet at Sijiao.’
“Xiaosan, there are so many letters here, let’s look for a while, maybe we can find some clues.’
‘Okay, I’ll look through them right away,‘ said Luo San, and immediately began to go through the letters piled on the desk. But when Luo San turned his attention to the desk, he suddenly noticed that the letters on it seemed to be in utter disarray, just like the books on the shelves.
’Someone has already gone through these letters before we arrived. I think that person is the murderer of Dongfang Bai. But what was his purpose in coming here?’
‘I think it might be related to this,’ Shen Yuan said, handing a letter to Shen Yuan. After taking the letter, Luo San immediately unfolded the paper and began to read it. However, the content of the letter made him feel a chill down his spine the more he read. The letter read:
The guilty subject, the Duke of Ying, Dongfang Bai, begs for your divine peace. Since the year Bingwu, when my great-grandfather, Dongfang Hanqing, happened upon the ‘Ancient Yuedu Classics’, I have been blessed by successive emperors. My great-grandfather was honoured with the title Duke of Ying, and my father and I inherited the title. However, we have failed to repay the favour of Heaven. We have made little progress in deciphering the book, and have even caused the country to suffer greatly. Even if we were to throw ourselves into the cauldron of boiling oil, it would be hard to atone for our sins. However, Your Majesty is the true son of Heaven, and has always been favoured by Heaven. Our Great Tang is truly the most powerful country in the world, and will not tolerate the presence of foreigners. Therefore, with Heaven’s grace and the coming of God, I have finally understood the truth of the book recently. This is also Your Majesty’s great fortune, and a great blessing for the Great Tang. Your servant humbly requests that Your Majesty grant him the power to act on his own, and in no more than three days, everything will be ready. If Your Majesty personally carries out divine punishment, purging the world and clearing the eight directions, the Great Tang dynasty will enjoy a long and prosperous reign…
“The letter was dated the day before yesterday, so it is estimated that the Eastern White had not yet had time to post it before he was killed. His killer was the King of Qi.’
Shen Yuan did not reply, and kept passing some letters over, which were even more incredible, because, to be precise, they should not be letters, but imperial edicts. Because the beginning of each letter was in the precise format of an imperial edict, just as they appeared in ancient costume dramas; and even the paper of the letter was specially bright yellow.
After quickly scanning the letters, Luo San discovered that the most frequently used word in these imperial edicts was ‘Ancient Yuedu Scripture’, followed closely by S Dasijiao. Some of these imperial edicts were from a long time ago, while others were more recent. What could be seen was that as the years progressed, the tone of the imperial edicts became increasingly severe, accusing the people of the Dongfang family of incompetence.
‘It seems that the people of the Eastern family have studied the ‘Guye Du Jing’ for generations without results, and recently they have had results, but they were killed. Let’s look for it carefully and see if there are any clues here.‘
The two of them looked for a long time, but didn’t find anything.
’Forget it. Let’s take these things back first,’ said Luo San, placing a few books and letters together, and then finding a bag in the study and putting them all in.
‘Let’s go back and take a look!‘ Shen Yuan understood.
’Well, Shen Yuan, take another look and see if there’s anything else we need to find. We’ll look for a while and then leave. It’s been so long and we haven’t seen a single person here. This is so unusual. We must hurry.’ Luo San gave instructions while tidying up the letters and documents on the table.
A few minutes later, the two left the study carefully and walked towards the exit. Although they didn’t encounter anyone along the way, Luo San and Shen Yuan did not dare to go out through the front door. Instead, they went back the way they had come, to the pond, and climbed over the wall to leave the mansion. Fortunately, there was only a dead end outside the wall, and no one was there at the moment. Once they were out of the alley, Luo San immediately began looking for street signs. He was eager to know what kind of place this was. Finally, he saw the name of a street he was familiar with: Yingbin Avenue. Luo San knew that Yingbin Avenue was already located in the far west of Chengdu, and was also a long way from the Second Ring Road in the city centre. Apart from the Jinniu Hotel, which was used for receptions and conferences, most of the area was farmland. He never imagined that Shen Yuan and he would be swept here by the underground current. It seemed that the entire underground depth of Chengdu should be an unfathomable underground ocean.
The two of them dared not return to the school during the day, but went to the hotel instead.
After changing into the clothes they had just bought, Luo San and Shen Yuan quickly fell asleep. I don’t know how long it was before Luo San was awakened by the thunder outside the window. Turning his head, he noticed that Shen Yuan was still asleep, so he lay in bed organising his thoughts.
The people of the Tang Empire wanted to decipher the ‘Guye Dujing’ because of the great secret hidden within it. Professor Wu said that once someone knows the secret, they will have the power to destroy the world. Could this really be true? Is this secret related to the impending catastrophe in Chengdu?
Thinking about all these questions, Luo San decided to give Yan Qingbo a call and ask if he knew anything about what happened last night. The police should have received a report.
The police did receive a report, and it happened to be handled by Yan Qingbo, so as soon as he heard that Luo San and Shen Yuan were eyewitnesses to the incident, Yan Qingbo immediately rushed over.
When Yan Qingbo arrived, Shen Yuan had already woken up, so Luo San recounted what had happened last night. After listening to Luo San’s account, Yan Qingbo didn’t say a word for a long time, and it was only after a while that he blurted out, ‘Is what you’re saying true? You two are back from the dead?’
‘Of course it’s true. I remember the group of people saying that both of us had been dead for a long time.‘
’I only remember the first half of it. After I got close to the schoolbag, I fainted.‘
’I did hear them talking, and they said that apart from you and me, everything else at the scene had dried up, and that one person was missing. I think that person was Shigu.‘
’Dried up?’ Shen Yuan’s face suddenly turned pale. ’How did it dry up?’
‘Let me tell you.’ Yan Qingbo then told the two of them what he had seen at the scene.
It turned out that in the early morning, the police received a report that something strange had happened at S University, so Yan Qingbo and his colleagues rushed to the scene. The first thing he saw at the scene immediately stunned him. He saw that all the shrubs, weeds and trees on the ground covering dozens of square metres had withered, as if they had been exposed to the scorching sun for dozens of days. What was most shocking was that there were hundreds of snakes at the scene, also all withered. This withering was even more bizarre, as it seemed that all the moisture and nutrients in the snakes’ bodies had been sucked out, leaving only the bones and snake skin. Apart from the snakes, there were also one or two dogs at the scene, which had withered in the same way. Even the land had become desertified.
Since it happened in the early morning, the police were unable to find any witnesses and could not find out what had really happened at the scene. However, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, the relevant departments imposed a news blackout on the matter and cleaned up the scene before the students went to class. Samples of the items at the scene were taken and handed over to an investigation team made up of experts at all levels in Chengdu for investigation.
‘There is no result yet, but the authorities are worried that it might be some kind of biological weapon. I also think that only a biological weapon could have caused such a result. Didn’t Xiaosan just say that the group mentioned that there was a brief fog at the scene? I think that fog was a biological weapon. I think that’s what happened. After the dogs failed to kill you last time, the people who had set the dogs on you decided to try again. They sent Shigu to lure you over to them, and he put poison in your bags so that you would faint when you smelled it. Then they sent the dogs to bite the two of you, who wouldn’t run away, but the snakes showed up just in time to protect you. The snakes and dogs fought, and the situation was at a stalemate. So they brought out the biochemical weapons to kill you, but they didn’t expect you to still be alive. So they had no choice but to throw you into the sea eye.‘
’It sounds very plausible. Yan Ge, what are you waiting for? Go catch Mushi Gu.’
‘It’s not that easy. How can I arrest someone without evidence? I’d better let other colleagues go to his dormitory and ask him to come to the police station for questioning.‘
’Thanks, Yan Ge. From what I’ve heard, thick fog and dryness seem to be major features of the case 57 years ago. That’s why the guy called San Shu Gong was trembling when he heard about thick fog and dryness. They must know something about the case 57 years ago. It would be great if they would tell us about it.’
Yan Qingbo saw that he had understood most of the situation, so he got up to take his leave. Before leaving, he told Luo San, ‘You have escaped death twice, but next time I’m afraid you won’t be so lucky. Take care. Okay, I’m going to go find Professor Wu.’
“Yan Ge, wait for us. We’re going to go find Professor Wu too.’
Chapter 13: Diexi Earthquake
‘Damn it, you’re still alive. Xiao San, you’re really something.’ When he saw Luo San and the others, Professor Wu put down the paper in his hands, stood up quickly to greet him and Shen Yuan, and then turned to Yan Qingbo, ’Yan, have you found out anything about that Indian devil? What did he want to do by blowing up the plane?’
‘No result. All we know is that the Indian devil is from New Delhi, named Bahru, an international student studying at S University. Although he only came to China last year, he is an expert on China, proficient in not only Mandarin, Sichuanese, Hunanese, Cantonese, Zhejiangese, and Fujianese, but also Chinese history, especially ancient history. What’s most impressive is that Bahru is also quite knowledgeable about ancient Chinese characters, and his skills are not inferior to some of the old professors. According to Bachru’s classmates, he rarely communicated with his classmates. He either buried his head in the library all day, or wandered around Chengdu. But although he didn’t communicate with his classmates, he had excellent relationships with some researchers of Chengdu folklore and history. That’s all we know so far.‘
’He speaks so many dialects, is familiar with ancient history, and masters ancient Chinese characters? This Indian devil seems to be stealing my thunder, which puts me under a lot of pressure. Really a lot…’
‘Professor Wu, don’t flatter yourself,‘ Luo San interrupted Professor Wu. “I think this Indian devil came prepared. I always feel that his academic research direction and what he did in Chengdu should both have a very strong purpose, closely related to his attempt to blow up the Zhiji Stone last night.”
’I thought of that too. He studied in Chengdu, befriended folk and history scholars, and travelled around, naturally to uncover the secrets of the Zhiji Stone. It’s just that he is familiar with many local dialects, ancient history and ancient Chinese characters, but what is his purpose, I can’t think of it.’
‘Their goal is the Ancient Yue Du Jing,’ said Luo San, taking out the Collection of Essays on Baiyue Culture Research, which he had taken from the white mansion in the east that afternoon, and finding the article “On the Ancient Yue Culture Phenomena Reflected in the Character Composition of the Nüshu” and handing it to Professor Wu.
Professor Wu finished reading the article in one go, along with the accompanying notes, without missing a word: ’Xiaosan, give me the Du Jing quickly?’
‘I didn’t find it. If I had, I would have given it to you already. I believe that you can solve the problem with just one look, there is no need for us to investigate so hard.‘
’Heh heh,‘ Professor Wu laughed proudly a few times, “flattering me is useless. Now that we don’t have the blasphemous scripture in hand, we can only continue to investigate. By the way, where did this thing come from?”
’It’s a long story,’ Luo San immediately told Professor Wu about his experience from last night to today.
‘Are you saying that the Chengdu underground is a huge ocean?‘
’Yes, it is a huge ocean.‘
’You said you saw a fish underground. What did that fish look like?‘
’It was very big. Silver-white, with no scales visible, and otherwise similar to an ordinary fish,‘ Shen Yuan added.
’White and scaly-free? It really is like this! Come and have a look at this report,’ said Professor Wu, pointing to a piece of paper on the table that he had just been reading.
Luo San saw that the paper was exactly the one Nan Qingyi had copied from the library the other day. It was a newspaper dated 26 August 1933, which carried the news that ‘construction of the S University’s teaching building has been blocked by a huge rock blocking the road’. Luo San’s gaze quickly flashed over the newspaper, and suddenly he noticed a sentence on it that had been underlined in red by Professor Wu. Luo San read it and was immediately captivated by the sentence: ‘The officials and gentry often say that in the silence of the night, you can faintly hear the sound of the tide underground.’ Those were the words from another news story in the newspaper, one that neither Luo San nor Shen Yuan had noticed before. The story reported the news of a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake that had struck Diexi, Mao County, Sichuan Province on the afternoon of 25 August 1933. And it was this news story that Professor Wu wanted them to read.
‘There is the sound of a tidal wave underground, there is the sound of a tidal wave underground…’ Luo San kept repeating this sentence while carefully reading the news about the earthquake. However, because Nan Qingyi did not pay attention to this news while photocopying, only a small part of the news was copied. The news above only described that in the afternoon of that day, a major earthquake occurred in the Diexi area of Mao County, and the entire Diexi town (i.e., the urban area) sank underground, and the original location of the town had become a sea (i.e., a lake). There is no more information above.
‘Professor Wu, is there any more news about the Diexi earthquake?’
‘Of course,’ said Professor Wu, enthusiastically introducing the situation of the Diexi earthquake to everyone.
Before the earthquake, Diexi was located in the north of Mao County in Sichuan Province, about 30 kilometers from the city. It was a town with more than 100 households. At the time of the earthquake, the Songli, Mao, Maomou, Wentun Reclamation Supervision Office of the 28th Nationalist Army had a public security bureau in Diexi because the town was close to the confluence of the Heishui River, handling all disputes. The town faces the Minjiang River and is backed by high mountains. It is about 5 kilometres from the riverbank to Diexi Town, which is on a slope. The terrain outside the town is flat, about 10 kilometres in diameter, and you can see deep caves of various sizes everywhere. The high mountains are sheer on the back, with no trees or vegetation. According to local people, there is a small hole halfway up the mountain, about the size of a washbasin, the depth of which is unknown. If you throw a stone into it, thick smoke will immediately rise, straight to the sky, forming a black cloud. In an instant, hail will fall, and people will often be injured if they cannot avoid it in time. The officials and gentry often say that in the middle of the night, when it is quiet, you can faintly hear the sound of water underground.
The then magistrate of Mao County wrote an exhaustive account of the earthquake: On the afternoon of the day the earthquake struck, there was suddenly a roaring sound like ten thousand horses galloping that grew louder and louder, like the sound of the waves of a huge storm sweeping in from the sea. The staff of the military garrison and the county government all ran out together in less than three seconds. Many people were unsteady on their feet and fell along the way, crawling quickly; some were helped out and were dumbstruck, not knowing what had happened. Then a long row of horizontal houses in the county government collapsed with a loud crash, fortunately without injuring anyone. The three ancient pagodas were planted during the Ming and Qing Dynasties and can be embraced by 10 people. Even the trunk shakes to the branches on all sides, like a command flag. Seeing the thick smoke rising from the four mountains, the dust and fog filled the sky, darkening the sky and blinding the ground. There were few people to be seen, and the rumble of the earthquake still continued. Some said it was a volcanic eruption, and that the end of the world had arrived for our generation. There were many people sobbing. After a while, it calmed down a little, and the sun and mountains could be seen a little more clearly. Then we heard the sound of walls and houses collapsing all over the city, and there were continuous cries for help. Another hour passed, and people could stand and walk again. Those reporting the disaster gathered at the county government building, all looking at each other, dejected. They discussed what to do on the spot, but they had no good ideas. They used the telephone to ask people on the upper and lower roads, but no one answered for a long time, and they knew that the lines had been cut. The next day, telephone operators set off to repair the lines. They went south to Weizhou and Wenchuan, and found that the lines were working there, so they knew that the disaster was not serious there. They went north for just over 10 li, and the mountains and rivers were so close together that there was no way through. They knew that the north road was the main earthquake zone. About a week later, refugees came over the mountains and across the rivers. They learned that the area around Diexi had suffered heavy losses, but they did not know the details. Later, refugees came to Jixian County in an endless stream. The tragedy was truly heartbreaking and too much for the eye to bear.
After the disaster, Diexi, which was originally a highland about 10 li from the slope, had become a sandbank at the same level as the river. The entire land and population of the town had fallen into an abyss, and almost no family was spared. A deep trench appeared at the foot of the original mountain. After measuring it with a rope, it was about tens of zhang deep. These poor lives all slept at the bottom of the trench…
The disaster not only directly caused a large number of deaths due to the earthquake, but also because the dam formed by the earthquake broke, which claimed the lives of a further 25,000 people.
Halfway up the mountain, there is a bottomless cave with an eerie sound of underground tides. After Luo San put these things together again, he basically formed this view: there is also an underground ocean under the ancient city of Diexi, and because this ocean is relatively close to the surface, people can hear the sound of the tides at night when there is no one around. It is very likely that this underground ocean is not an isolated existence, but is connected to the underground ocean under Sijiao. It can even be said that the underground ocean in Diexi is controlled by the underground ocean under Sijiao, and the key to this is the boulder in the women’s toilet of Sijiao. Because when the earthquake struck, it was this rock that blocked the workers‘ path, and the workers hit it and blasted it with explosives. In other words, the rock triggered the 7.5 magnitude earthquake due to the huge external force, taking the lives of tens of thousands of people.
’Since Chengdu has an underground ocean, other places must also have one. Therefore, although Xiaosan’s view that there is an ocean underground in Diexi is very bold, I support it.’
‘I think the same way. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have shown you this news.‘
Luo San’s view that there is an ocean underground in Diexi was unanimously supported by Yan Qingbo and Professor Wu. Professor Wu also pointed out: “The entire Sichuan underground is a huge underground body of water. The reason I say this is because of the white scaly fish Xiaozi saw in the Chengdu underground ocean. As far as I know, that type of fish can only be found in one place. That place is Diexi Haizi.”
’Diexi Haizi? What is that?’
‘Haizi means lake. The so-called Diexi Haizi is a lake formed after the Diexi earthquake. Since its formation, Diexi Haizi has been home to a species of scaly white fish. Despite the high altitude and the scarcity of plankton in the lake, the fish thrive and grow in huge numbers. It is said that the largest fish can grow up to two metres long. Legend has it that this fish is the incarnation of the Zuozhi Qiang people who were buried at the bottom of the water along with Diexi City. This branch of the Qiang tribe lived together in Diexi, and the entire tribe disappeared in the earthquake.‘
’A stone thousands of miles away can create the fate of a town and make a tribe disappear. This is incredible. As a police officer, I would never believe it if I hadn’t experienced it myself.’
‘In that case, the Indian’s objective is clear. He must have discovered the secret of the stones and wanted to blow up the Zhiji Stone to trigger a massive earthquake. The massive earthquake foretold by the appearance of the giant tortoise might be referring to this.’ Shen Yuan suddenly interrupted, and everyone suddenly had an epiphany.
Shen Yuan, however, looked thoughtful. ‘Professor Wu, you mentioned several times that the appearance of a giant turtle in the world is an omen of man-made disasters, not natural disasters. May I ask if all appearances of giant turtles in the world are omens of man-made disasters? And is there any instance where a giant turtle appeared in the world without a major disaster occurring?’
‘As far as I know, in the history of Chengdu, whenever a giant tortoise appeared, it was a sign of a man-made disaster. And the only time a giant tortoise appeared without a disaster beingfalling was during the Kangxi period. Girl, why are you asking all these questions?‘
’I was wondering, now that the Indian devil has been caught, does that mean a major earthquake will not come?’
‘It’s definitely not that simple. Shen Yuan, the bomb that the Indian devil planted at the support stone was extremely sophisticated and powerful. It seems that the Indian devil does not have a professional background in making bombs, so it is very likely that he was not working alone, and there must be a group behind him. Catching him alone will not help if he refuses to talk, and the others will continue to engage in destructive activities.’
‘Yan Ge, you can report this situation to your leaders and ask them to send more people to guard a few stones, so that we don’t have to worry about them causing damage.‘
’Xiaosan, why are you so insensitive? I am a lowly person with little influence. Who will believe what I say? There is an ocean underground in Chengdu, and no one will believe it.‘
’So what do we do now?’
‘Well, we’ll have to ask Professor Wu.‘ Luo San noticed that Yan Qingbo’s expression was strange when he said this.
’How would I know,‘ Professor Wu asked in surprise.
’Of course you know. I had someone investigate you. Professor Wu, no, I should say Mr. Yin Yinke,’
Chapter 14: The enlightened royal family waits for generations
‘Yin Yinke?’ Luo San and Shen Yuan exclaimed, ‘Yan Ge, what’s going on?’
Yan Qingbo looked coldly at Professor Wu: ‘All along, I have felt that there is something wrong with Professor Wu. He has been too enthusiastic about getting involved in this matter, which is unlike his usual style of doing things. So I quietly investigated him. I found out that his real name is Yin Yinke and that he is from a rural area in Ya’an City, Sichuan Province. Over the years, he has been studying at S University and has hardly worked, yet he still has money to live on, which is hard to believe even with the support of some students. So I had someone investigate his hometown in Ya’an and found out that he has a wife and son. His wife passed away a few days ago, and his son has been supported by his family and is already in university. And that university is S University.’
‘Could this be a coincidence?‘ Luo San knew that Professor Wu had his own secrets, but he was very unhappy with Yan Qingbo’s tone.
’Do you think it’s reasonable to abandon your wife and child to study at S University? And the rest of the family was willing to support his son and raise him as a university student. Is this reasonable? None of this could be a coincidence. Yin Yinke, you tell me, what is your purpose in going to Chengdu?’
‘Purpose, purpose. My purpose for coming to Chengdu?‘ Professor Wu looked up, his eyes glistening with tears. “Who wants to abandon their wife and children? Who wants to stay on this campus for decades? Who wants their son to follow in their footsteps and continue to lead an inhumane life? But do I have a choice?”
’Why don’t you have a choice?‘
’Because I am a descendant of the ancient Shu enlightened dynasty, the ancestor Beiling.’
‘What enlightened dynasty? What Beiling?‘ Luo San and Shen Yuan asked in unison.
Professor Wu sighed and said, “With the current education, how can these young people be so ignorant?”
’Nonsense, I’m not from Sichuan, so why should I understand the history of your ancient Shu? Get to the point. What is your purpose?’ Shen Yuan said coldly and impolitely.
‘Girl, don’t be so impatient.’ Over the next period of time, Professor Wu told Luo San and Shen Yuan in detail about the history of the ancient Shu Kingdom. The history of ancient Shu has always been said to have three kings and two emperors. The three kings were Zangong, Bo Kun, and Yu Fu, and the two emperors were Wang Di Du Yu and Cong Di Bei Ling. The “Shu Wang Ben Ji” (Annals of the Kings of Shu) records that the three generations of Shu kings, Zangong, Bo Kun, and Yu Fu, were ’each hundreds of years old.’ Of course, the names Zangong, Bai Kun and Yu Fu here are not the names of the Shu kings, but the names of the ancient Shu dynasties. The phrase ‘each lived hundreds of years’ refers to the fact that the three ancient Shu dynasties each had a reign period of several hundred years. As for Wangdi Duyu and Congdi Beiling, they are generally referred to as the Wangcong Erdi (literally ‘Wang Emperor and Cong Emperor’). In fact, the Wangcong Erdi were not of the same clan. Wangdi was an ancient Shu native who founded the Duyu Dynasty in ancient Shu history, while Congdi Beiling was a native of Chu who founded the Kai Ming Dynasty in ancient Shu history.
‘Thousands of years ago, our ancestors led their tribesmen from Chu and travelled up the river to what is now Leshan in Sichuan, where they founded a kingdom and settled down. At first, our tribe was very small, and the land we fought off the local indigenous people to claim was minimal. Slash-and-burn agriculture, fishing and hunting were the daily lives of our ancestors and their tribesmen.’ Professor Wu seemed to be lost in his own memories.
At that time, the Chengdu Plain was under the rule of the Duyu Dynasty, and no water conservancy facilities such as the Dujiang Weir had been built, so the floods wreaked havoc. Wangdi Duyu was a useless fellow who had no idea how to control the floods, causing widespread flooding and disaster for the people of the entire Shu Kingdom.
As a native of Chu, Bei Ling was an expert at flood control. When floods became a problem, he led his people to control the floods in Leshan. When Wangdi Du Yu heard of his deeds, he made him prime minister in charge of flood control. Bailing led his people to travel all over the Chengdu Plain, fighting floods everywhere, and finally solving the problem. Because of his achievements in flood control, Bailing, although not a native of Shu, was unanimously supported by the people of the country, drove away Duyu, and founded the ancient Shu Kai Ming Dynasty, which lasted for hundreds of years and had the largest national territory. Unfortunately, in the late Warring States period, the Qin army, a fierce army, destroyed his country and destroyed his ancestral hall.
Do you know what it’s like to lose your country? In 316 BC, the last king of my enlightened dynasty and his son led the army to fight the Qin army at Jiameng Pass, and both died in battle. In fact, the king already knew that with the strength of Shu, he could not fight against the powerful Qin. So the king chose two reliable people to accompany his young son, left Chengdu, and settled in the Xichang area. This is because the Qiong people there were allies of the enlightened dynasty.’
Later, the royal family of the Kai Ming Dynasty were either killed or fled by the Qin king, and in the end, only the young son of the last Kai Ming king was left. And this branch stayed in Sichuan forever because they had to guard a secret of their ancestors, the tortoise spirit.
‘What secret does the last king of Shu want you to guard?’ Luo San asked.
“That secret is the sea eye.’
‘The Eye of the Sea? Again the Eye of the Sea? Why is there an ocean under the ground in Chengdu?‘
’Hmph! You are a frog at the bottom of a well. The world unknown to humans is vast. How do you know that what is said in textbooks is necessarily correct? There are exceptions to everything, and everything is possible,’ Professor Wu lectured. ’So don’t ask such childish questions in front of me. I can’t answer your question of why there is an ocean underground either. What I can tell you is that this is a secret that our family has kept for thousands of years.’
From Professor Wu’s mouth, Luo San and Shen Yuan learned that, apart from the stone in the women’s toilet at the Four Teachings Academy, the strange stones in Chengdu, such as the stone pillars, Tianya Stone, Zhiji Stone, and Wukuai Stone, were all related to the flood during the reign of Wangdi Duyu. It was a flood comparable to the one during the reign of Emperor Shun in the Central Plains. The surging waves flooded the Chengdu Plain. Although the Chengdu Plain had been prone to frequent flooding before, it had never experienced such a major flood before.
After enduring countless hardships to reach Leshan from Chu, the tortoise spirit, who had been looking forward to a good life, was physically and mentally exhausted by the flood. At this time, a group of Qiong people found them. The Qiong people were a tribe that worshipped large stones and lived in the area of present-day Xichang. At one time, their sphere of influence reached as far as the Qionglai Mountains. Today, Linqiong Town in Qionglai City, which is under the jurisdiction of Chengdu, is said to have been a stronghold for the Qiong people as they entered the Chengdu Plain.
Bailing originally thought that these people were just ordinary messengers and only intended to receive them briefly before sending them away. However, upon seeing them, he discovered that these uninvited guests were of great importance. The reason was that the five people who had come were all tribal elders, one of whom was also the tribe’s shaman. The shaman was dressed in the strangest way imaginable. He was tall and had a high nose bridge, clearly different from the other Qiong people, except that he wore a large hat that covered the part above his nose.
These uninvited guests simply made a request of Beiling: if Beiling would agree to do one thing for them, the Qiong people would tell him how to control the floods and help him conquer the floods and ascend to the throne of the Shu kingdom. Beiling knew that further north in his own land there were even wider plains, and he wanted that land, but with so few people, it was just a thought.
Professor Wu’s narrative does not mention how Beiling was persuaded to agree to this, but only the end result: the Qiong people joined forces with the Peng and Pu tribes to spread the news that Beiling was good at flood control. Soon afterwards, Wangdi Duyu formally appointed Beiling as prime minister, in charge of flood control. It was easy to control the floods, because the Yulei Mountains blocked the Minjiang River’s flow and the river channel was not smooth. Beiling led his people to excavate the Yulei Mountains and open up the river channel, so that the Minjiang River’s water could quickly drain away. After the floods receded, the Qiong people transported ten huge stones to them.
Once the stones reached the Chengdu Plain, the Qiong people immediately erected them on a wasteland in the area of the current Chengdu city centre. At that time, the floodwaters had just receded, and there were basically no living creatures on this wasteland. The ten huge stones looked particularly strange. Six of them were lined up together to form the later Stone Pillars, while the other four became the later Tianya Stone, Wukuai Stone, Zhiji Stone and Dijiao Stone.
On the evening of the day these boulders were erected, the tortoise spirit stood on this wasteland and silently gazed at the stones. The wasteland was vast and open, with 10 boulders standing like pillars, forming a strange pattern. It was also on this evening that the tortoise spirit saw another boulder that had long existed on this wasteland, the one that was later installed in the women’s toilet of the Four Teachings.
It was a strange stone, buried deep in the ground, bottomless. Several strong young men stepped forward at the same time, but they could not budge it. The strangest thing was that the surface of the stone was colourful and smooth. Beiling stroked the stone gently, because he understood that from this moment on, the fate of their clan would be forever linked to this stone.
That night, under a full moon, the Qiong people’s shamans held another ceremony, except this time, Turtle Spirit was asked to hand over the tortoise shell, which symbolised the sacred object of their clan. The Qiong people’s shamans smashed the tortoise shell and buried it under the 11 boulders, mixing it with the blood of the Turtle Spirit clan.
Just a few minutes later, the earth shook violently, the sky suddenly became dark, and the entire world was enveloped in sand and dust that rose from the ground, making it difficult to see in the near distance. Fortunately, the earthquake ended after a few minutes. The huge boulder that had suddenly appeared in the wilderness not only did not fall during the earthquake, but also seemed to have endless roots in the ground, so that no matter how it was shaken or knocked, it did not move. And once someone tried to dig it up or break it, it would cause strange movements of wind and thunder.
After all this, the Qiong people told the turtle spirit that the boulder in the barren land had existed since the beginning of time, and no one knew its name or how deep it went underground. All they knew was that the stone held down the eye of the sea. If the stone holding down the eye of the sea was damaged, the water from the eye of the sea would gush out, and not only Chengdu, but the entire Kyushu region would become a country of swamps. However, the stone that held the sea eye was very unstable, so the water of the sea eye often gushed out, causing floods on the Chengdu Plain. For this reason, the Qiong people specially selected ten huge stones from the mountains and laid a great formation around the stone that held the sea eye. Through this formation of huge stones, the strength of the stone was enhanced, making it unbreakable. However, this stone circle needed someone to live on the Chengdu Plain to guard it, and the Qiong people were used to living in the mountains, so they chose the Beiling people to undertake the task of guarding the stone circle. Of course, the reward for this task was the throne of the Shu Kingdom for hundreds of years. The Beiling people made their choice, ushering in an enlightened dynasty that lasted for hundreds of years, but they also acquired a permanent duty for their descendants: guarding the stone circle. And if they break their oath to protect the stone circle, all the members of the tortoise clan will be filled into the eye of the sea and remain there forever.
Because of this, the enlightened dynasty has always sent clan members to guard the stone circle. Even to better protect the stone circle, the ninth enlightened emperor formally moved the capital from Xindu in the north of Chengdu to the current Chengdu city. However, the time when the country fell and the family died eventually came. In order to keep their oath and protect the stone array, the young son of the last Kai Ming king and his two subordinates fled to Ya’an and sought the assistance of the Qiong people. However, the Qiong people only agreed to escort them back to Chengdu and build houses in Chengdu to resettle them, but they would not help expel the Qin people and restore the Kai Ming dynasty.
So the young son of the last king of the Kai Ming dynasty and his two subordinates returned a few years later when Chengdu had calmed down a little. By then, the king of Qin had already sent Zhang Yi and Zhang Ruo to build the Chengdu city in Chengdu. The Qiong people settled the young son of the last king of the Kai Ming dynasty in a house built outside the southeast of Chengdu city. It was a large mansion, and in one of the rooms in the mansion was hidden the town stone of Haiyan.
Perhaps fearing that this was not enough, the Qiong people used some unknown method to make it impossible for ordinary people to see the mansion or approach it. So the young son of the last enlightened king and his descendants lived in the mansion for more than 2,000 years. For 2,000 years, they were allowed to leave the mansion and travel the world, but they were not allowed to make friends, because any friend could reveal the existence of the mansion. They also had little company from their relatives; they were all carried to this mansion shortly after birth. In order to keep the family secret, the Beiling family lived in Yaan for a long time. Once they got married and had children, the first son would always disappear from home under the pretext of death and be secretly sent here. This way of life would have continued forever, but as the years passed, the concealment function of the mansion gradually weakened, becoming more and more visible. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the mansion’s special protective function had completely disappeared. In 1911, a fire destroyed the entire mansion, leaving only the stone monument standing between heaven and earth.
‘A haunted mansion in the south of the city.’ Luo San suddenly realised, ’The mansion of the young son of the Enlightened King is that large mansion in the southeast of Chengdu, which is also the one mentioned in the third case that Shi Wuji asked them to investigate.
‘Yes, that’s right. At that time, that mansion was already known as the Yin Mansion, and we simply went along with the flow and changed our surname to Yin, so my real name is Yin Yinke.‘
’Why did the Yin Mansion catch fire, and after the Yin Mansion caught fire, how did you get to Ya’an?‘
’The Yin Mansion was set on fire by someone. I don’t know who the arsonist was. At that time, our family was already sparsely populated, and there were only three people living in the Yin Mansion. When the fire broke out, they tried to put it out, but when they saw a crowd of people rushing in, they immediately understood that their time had come. In order not to reveal the secret they had guarded for thousands of years, the three of them committed suicide.’ A hint of sadness could be heard in Professor Wu’s words, ’Although they are dead, the task of protecting the sea eye town stone by our clan has not ended, but has fallen to the heads of our descendants of the Yin clan who have lived outside for a long time. First, it was my great-grandfather, then my grandfather, my father, and then me. I stayed at University S for more than 20 years, and during that time, I didn’t dare to look for a job, for I was afraid that it would affect my mission of guarding the town stone…”
What kind of perseverance is required for a family to guard and be alone for 2,000 years? Luo San believes that during this process, there must have been many people who longed to break free from the control of fate, but in the end, they were unable to escape its grasp, or they collided fiercely with the train of fate, and were smashed to pieces. The world is full of uncertainty, and people are so helpless in the face of fate.
While Luo San was thinking about all this, Shen Yuan asked a question that left Luo San baffled: ‘Professor Wu, are the huge stones that the Qiong people transported really huge stones?’
“From the outside, those things are definitely stones, but from the role they played later, those things are definitely not stones. I just don’t know what to call these things, so I’ll just call them huge stones.’
‘What do you think they are?‘
’Something high-tech, just far beyond our understanding.‘
’Could they really be the legacy of an alien civilisation on Earth, as Mr Tong Enzheng said in his article ‘Stalagmite Xing’?’
‘That’s possible, but I’m more inclined to think they’re the remnants of a previous civilization on Earth. The history of the Earth is not as simple as we now imagine. I’ve never believed that our civilization is the only one on Earth. Before the period of history in which we know there was civilization, there should have been civilization, or even more developed civilization. Some of the incredible things we encounter now are the remnants of the previous generation of civilization, or even the previous generation of civilization. For example, archaeologists have found bullet holes in some dinosaur fossils, and there are also rubber-soled shoeshine imprints on trilobite fossils from hundreds of millions of years ago. There are also nuclear reactors that are still working and batteries that are still usable that were discovered in uranium ore formed hundreds of millions of years ago and in coal mines. None of these things should belong to that era, but they do exist. Apart from the possibility that an alien civilization has visited the earth, there is only one other possibility: there were other civilizations in prehistory, civilizations that were more highly developed than ours…’
‘Wait,‘ Shen Yuan interrupted Professor Wu. “If there really was a previous generation of civilization, then why did that civilization disappear? Why is there so little left of it that we have found? And if it really was the previous generation of civilization, then how can you explain how the people of Qiongdu knew about it?”
’No one knows how prehistoric civilizations died out, but one thing is certain: the Qiong people did not know about the previous generation of civilization. It was the Qiong shaman who knew about it. The records left by our ancestors have a very strong impression of the Qiong people’s shaman. He believes that the Qiong people’s shaman is not human…‘
’If not human, what is it?‘
’A god. First, our ancestors believed that the Qiong people’s shaman, although they did not see his face clearly, they intuitively felt that he looked different from us, that he was not a character that should exist in this world, but a god. Second, our ancestors believed that only gods possess that kind of power, the power to control the heavens and the earth. Modern research also shows that the so-called gods were not fictional, and there is at least historical evidence for them. I think these gods were people from a previous civilization. They either migrated to other planets with their civilization and stayed behind on Earth, or they survived the destruction of their civilization. They were unable to rebuild their civilization, so they had to rely on people from later civilizations to fulfil some of their wishes. For example, they asked them to build stone circles and so on.’
‘The legacy of a previous civilisation? This is incredible. Professor Wu, to be honest, what you said was very impressive, but I don’t agree with it,‘ Luo San said, shaking his head.
’Xiaosan, whether you believe it or not, the facts are here. Take the women’s toilet in Si Jiao, for example. It is a completely separate space from our world. And this space naturally formed after Si Jiao was built.‘
’Naturally formed?’
‘Yes. Everyone says that the women’s toilet in the fourth teaching building was closed by the school after a girl went missing, but the truth is that a janitor saw two girls go into the toilet that day and they never came out. When she tried to lock the door, she went to urge the two girls, but found that the door of the toilet could no longer be opened. So she leaned over the crack in the door and looked into the toilet, but found that the light was on but there was no one in the toilet. The janitor immediately reported the incident, and the school sent a large number of workers over that night. The workers found that the door was not closed tightly and seemed to be able to be opened with a casual push, but no matter what method was used, the door would not open. Helplessly, they had to break down the door. But when the door was broken down, they discovered that there was another door inside, and that door is the one we see now. The school was unable to solve this situation and had to announce that the girls‘ toilet would be completely closed for safety reasons due to the disappearance of a girl. In fact, this is not the first time a unique space has formed around a boulder. Back when the haunted house still existed, the room that hid the boulder was also impossible to enter.
’How can this be?‘
’This is because the location of this boulder is unique and has a self-protection function. As long as there is a building around it, it can use this building as a carrier to form a unique space around it. This image can only be understood as a remnant of a highly developed civilisation of a previous generation. No other explanation will work.‘
’Professor Wu, since this space was formed by the boulder for self-protection, why does it open during thunderstorms?‘
’Xiaosan, I’m not omnipotent.‘
’Professor Wu, since the Qiong people specifically built houses and used methods to protect the town stone of Haiyan, what measures did they take for the boulders in the stone array? Because I have read in the literature that there were originally six stone pillars, but now there are only two left, and now there may only be half of one in someone’s well. Does it mean that only this town stone needs to be protected, but the giant stones in the stone array don’t need to be protected?’ Luo San asked a bunch of questions again.
Professor Wu has always been a good teacher. Since he has already spoken up at this point, he told Luo San and the others what he knew without reservation.
When the youngest son of the last enlightened king returned to Chengdu from Yaan, the Qiong people’s request of his family had changed from guarding the entire stone array to just protecting the Haiyan Town Stone. The youngest son of the last enlightened king had once gone into the city disguised to check on the stone pillars, only to find that only three of them remained, and the other three had disappeared without a trace. For this reason, he had specifically asked the Qiong people, who had come to contact him, but the reply was that there was no need to care about such things. He really had no heart to care about such things. Because Chengdu at that time was not peaceful. As the Qin people had not been in charge of Shu for long, most of the Shu people were not obedient, and the Qin king, in order to appease the Shu people, first made Tongguo, a member of the royal family of Shu, the marquis of Shu, and appointed Chen Zhuang as prime minister. However, a few years later, Tongguo and Chen Zhuang rebelled against the Qin and re-established the state of Shu. Soon after, Tongguo was killed by Chen Zhuang, who was in turn killed by the Qin king. After this, the Qin king made Tongguo’s son Yun the marquis, then killed him, made Yun’s son Wan the marquis, then killed him 15 years later. At the same time, in order to prevent a rebellion by the people of Shu, the Qin king ordered Zhang Yi to build a city wall in Chengdu during this period. Shortly afterwards, various versions of legends about the huge stones that make up the stone array began to circulate in the city, and these can basically still be found in various documents today. Thanks to these legends, the huge stones began to be protected by the people and even the authorities.
‘I have always suspected that the rumours about these stones were deliberately spread by the Qiong people in order to make the world believe that these giant stones are inviolable sacred objects. However, it is clear that their purpose has not been achieved, and the stones in these stone circles have been damaged to a greater or lesser extent over the millennia. It is just strange that the power of the Haiyan Town Stone has not been affected over the millennia. It is only in the past century that the power of the Haiyanzhen Stone has suddenly weakened, and it has become very vulnerable to external forces. This was especially the case in the 1930s and 1940s,’ Professor Wu sighed, ’At that time, the new campus of Sichuan University was under construction. In order to prevent the university from affecting the stone during construction, my great-grandfather specifically approached the university authorities and asked them to avoid the stone during construction. The university authorities took the matter very seriously and carefully investigated the situation. However, my great-grandfather did not dare to tell them the truth, but only said that this stone was located in an important position on the Chengdu Plain, and that once it was damaged, it would be detrimental to Chengdu and Sichuan. After hearing this, the school authorities promised. However, not long after, my great-grandfather died in his own home. It is said that his death was extremely tragic, and we have never known who did it. After my great-grandfather died, my grandfather quietly came to Chengdu and found a way to enter the construction team building the Si Jiao, and became a coolie carrying sand.
‘On the afternoon of 25 August 1933, while my grandfather was busy working, he suddenly heard several loud bangs coming from the town’s stone. He hurried to the scene and saw thick smoke and dust next to the town stone, and the air was filled with a pungent smell. Other labourers said that in order to repair the teaching building, the school had requested that the stone be removed, but they had used a lot of explosives and still couldn’t blow it up. My grandfather noticed that the town stone had been split open by the explosion, and that the crack went all the way down to the ground. Next to the town stone stood a man with a disappointed expression on his face.
“While everyone was talking about this and that, everyone suddenly felt the ground shake beneath their feet. Everyone at the scene became panicked and started running around. My grandfather noticed that at the moment the earth shook, the crack in the town stone slowly closed up, becoming very, very small. That night, someone said that there had been an earthquake in the Songpan and Mao counties area. The next day, my grandfather read in the newspaper that the earthquake had been very strong and that the entire Diexi town had collapsed. But that was just the beginning, because the earthquake caused landslides and landslides blocked the Minjiang River, turning it into a series of lakes. After a period of time, these lakes burst their banks, flooding countless towns and claiming the lives of tens of thousands of people.’
‘It seems that the town stone in Haiyan does matter. The Indian devils‘ ultimate goal must be it.’
‘That’s right. The Indian devils’ goal is precisely the giant stone.’ A voice suddenly sounded outside the door, and then a person pushed the door open.
Chapter 15 Huang Xing’s Son
The person who came was Nan Qingyi.
‘So you’re all here,’ Nan Qingyi smiled at everyone, ‘then I don’t have to look for you one by one.’
‘Nan Qingyi, what do you want?’ Shen Yuan looked at Nan Qingyi warily.
Nan Qingyi ignored Shen Yuan and turned to Luo San: ‘Xiaosan, those people who drove the dogs away didn’t hurt you again, did they?’
“How did you know about the incident where I was chased by the dogs?’
‘That night, I sent the flock of birds.‘
’You?‘
’Of course. Driving birds is a specialty of our Luo Yue tribe.‘
’What is the Luo Yue tribe?‘
’The Luo Yue tribe is a branch of the ancient Baiyue tribe, living in the Guangxi and Guizhou regions. Later, they migrated south to Southeast Asian countries and created the entire Southeast Asian civilization.’ Professor Wu’s old problem had returned. ’The question is, what are you Luo Yue people doing in Chengdu?’
Nan Qingyi leaned towards Professor Wu: ‘There have been strange things happening in Chengdu recently, especially the appearance of the giant turtle, which is a sign that a great disaster is about to happen in Chengdu. If we don’t do something to stop it, China will definitely perish and the end of the world will surely come.’
‘I know, the end of the world in 1999, I knew that a long time ago.’
“Professor Wu, you’re joking, you know that the end of the world I’m talking about is the disaster facing Chengdu.’
Professor Wu listened quietly to Nan Qingyi’s words, but still remained silent.
Seeing this, Nan Qingyi took a piece of cloth out of his pocket and handed it to Professor Wu with both hands: ‘Professor Wu, the source of the Nine Provinces is in imminent danger. If you don’t believe me, please read the Ancient Yue Du Jing.’
‘The Ancient Yue Du Jing?‘ Professor Wu exclaimed, and with trembling hands he took the cloth. It was covered in strange symbols, apparently printed from something.
’Is this really the Ancient Yue Du Jing?‘ Luo San asked, looking at the symbols, which looked like hieroglyphs.
’Of course.‘
’Why did you show it to us?‘
’Because the source of the nine provinces is in danger.’
‘What is the source of the nine provinces?‘
’The source of the nine provinces is the centre of China. Once it is damaged, the entire country will disappear.‘
’Kid, where did you find this thing?‘ Professor Wu interrupted the conversation between the two, staring intently at Nan Qingyi.
’I got it from the Tongmenghui.‘
’Tongmenghui?‘
’Yes. If you still don’t believe me, please come with me to a place where I can explain it to you properly.’
After exchanging a glance, Luo San and the other three nodded in agreement.
‘This is the house my father bought for me in case of emergencies, except that I’ve never lived here before,’ Nan Qingyi said to Luo San and the other two after he led them to a house in a small community near the west gate of S University.
It was a quaintly furnished house with tatami mats and mahogany furniture in the living room. In the centre of the living room wall hung a strange banner, like a nine-square grid, with nine blue squares and white in the centre and around the edges. On either side of the banner were portraits of two men. The man on the left was wearing a suit, with a heroic face and a high, curled moustache. On either side of the portrait was a couplet: ‘Without the public, there is no republic; where there is history, there must be such a person.’ The man on the right is also dressed in a suit, with a short moustache on his upper lip and an elegant appearance. Next to him is another couplet, the upper line of which reads: If I am allowed to speak passionately, I will say that China will sink together with your indomitable spirit, crying out in lamentation at Fan Juming, who rode in a plain white horse and carriage to nowhere; if you lower your standards and focus on the pros and cons, how can any country bear to see the Great Wall crumble on its own?
Seeing that the three were staring at the flag and portraits on the wall, Nan Qingyi said, ‘The flag is the “well” flag. At the beginning of the Republic of China, there was endless debate about what flag to use as the national flag. The “well” flag was proposed by Huang Xing and Liao Zhongkai, and it symbolises socialism.’
‘Who are these two people?’ Luo San asked, pointing to the portraits next to the ‘well’ flag.
‘The one on the left is Mr Huang Xing and Huang Keqiang,’ Professor Wu replied, ‘elders of the Tongmenghui, and heroes of the founding of the Republic of China. The couplet beside the portrait was written by Zhang Taiyan. The person in the portrait on the right is Mr. Song Jiaoren and Mr. Song Dunchu. After the assassination of Mr. Song in Shanghai, the leader of the Democratic Party, Tang Hualong, wrote the above couplet. Mr. Song was indeed a rare talent in the Chinese nation in a thousand years. If Yuan Shikai could understand the contemporary trend, not expect the imperial system, and let Song Jiaoren form a cabinet, then the name of China’s Washington or the ‘Father of the Republic’ of the Republic of China would undoubtedly be Yuan Shikai. And the entire history of the Republic of China may have been rewritten.‘
’Mr. Song was the person my great-grandfather most respected in his life. I remember my great-grandfather once saying that when he was young, every year on March 22, my great-grandfather would hold a memorial service. Every time, the old man would kneel for a long time, unable to get up, crying bitterly.‘
’So Huang Xing was also someone your great-grandfather admired,’ said Luo San.
‘Of course, but that’s not the only reason.’ Nan Qingyi nodded and shook his head again, “My great-grandfather was Huang Gong’s adopted son.” In the astonished gaze of Shen Yuan and the others, Nan Qingyi recounted a thrilling piece of history.
In the winter of 1905, Chen Tianhua, a member of the Tongmenghui who had written revolutionary texts such as ‘A Sharp Turn’ and ‘A Warning Bell’, died by throwing himself into the sea in Japan. Among his belongings, in addition to a ‘suicide note’, there was also a box addressed to Huang Xing. Inside the box was a gold tablet wrapped in linen and a letter. It was a piece of gold platinum one foot square in size, and the surface of the gold platinum was densely engraved with text.
Chen Tianhua said that this piece of gold platinum belonged to Hong Xiuquan, who had long hair and a reversed head. As for where Hong Xiuquan got this gold platinum, no one knows. Although Hong Xiuquan got this gold platinum, he could not read the text engraved on it at all. However, because the gold tablet was so well made, even Hong Xiuquan knew that it must be extraordinary. But all Hong Xiuquan could do was hold the gold tablet in his hands and dance around like a madman in front of the crowd, fooling everyone with false claims of the words of the heavenly father.
Before the fall of the Tianjing City, Hong Xiuquan died of illness, and the gold tablet fell into the hands of Hong Xiuquan’s nephew, Hong Quanfu, the left heavenly general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Yingwang, and the 3,000-year-old. After the fall of the Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Quanfu went into hiding and fled, working as a cook on foreign ships for decades. In the 28th year of the Guangxu reign (1902), Xingzhonghui members Xie Zhantai and Li Jitang conspired in Guangdong and Hong Kong to rebel against the Qing dynasty. This rebellion was not reported to the Xingzhonghui, and it was all connected with the Hungmen. The comrades mobilised were also all Hungmen members. Xie Zhantai and Li Jitang considered that Hong Quanfu was the nephew of Hong Xiuquan and had held a high position in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so he had influence in the Hungmen. Therefore, they invited Hong Quanfu to join them and appointed him as the ‘General of the Southern Guangdong Xinghan Army’ of the ‘Great Ming Dynasty Shun Kingdom’. The Great Ming Dynasty Shun Kingdom advocated a democratic political system, and it was agreed that after the success of the uprising, Dr. Yung Wing would be appointed as the temporary president of the government.
However, due to the deliberate leak of the information by the foreigners who had agreed to sell the guns, Hong Quanfu once again ended up in the South Seas. Before leaving, he handed the gold tablet to Xie Zhantai, who later entrusted it to Chen Tianhua through a third party. Chen Tianhua studied it diligently but was unable to discover the secret of the gold tablet. It was not until 1904, when he returned to Hunan with Huang Xing to prepare for the Battle of Changsha, that he discovered that the writing on the gold tablet was similar to that used by the women in the mountain villages. So in his spare time while preparing for the uprising, he searched everywhere for this strange writing, studied it, and finally deduced, based on his understanding of just a few words, that the gold tablet was a record of the mountains and rivers of China. One of the sentences reads: ‘In the southwest of the country, the Bai people…to the west…the source of the Tuoshengdui. This is the source of the nine provinces. Oath! Forever keep this…’
This text made Chen Tianhua feel that there might be a huge secret hidden in the Jinbo. However, just as he was planning to continue to delve deeper into the matter, the Battle of Changsha was leaked due to a lack of secrecy, and Chen Tianhua and Huang Xing fled to Shanghai and then to Japan. In Japan, there was very little research material, and Chen Tianhua’s research made little progress. He did not tell anyone about this, until the end of 1905, when Chen Tianhua was prepared to die in order to persuade the others. Only then did he leave a will, informing Huang Xing about the Jinbo and its source and what he knew.
Huang Xing was the secretary of the Tongmenghui at the time, and he was in charge of all the affairs of the association while Sun Yat-sen was away. Huang Xing naturally attached great importance to the gold ingot when he received it, but on the one hand it was uncertain whether the records in the gold ingot were true; on the other hand, the Tongmenghui had only been established for less than half a year at this time, and the elites of the association were going to various places to either promote the revolution, lobby the secret societies, develop comrades, or raise funds for righteous causes. Under these circumstances, Huang Xing could not attend to anything else. So he finally decided to hand the gold ingot over to Sun Yat-sen and ask him to decide.
Since Huang Xing was unable to leave Japan, he handed the gold ingot to Tongmenghui member Dongfang Hanqing, along with a letter to Sun Yat-sen, in which he described in detail the origin of the gold ingot and the secret it hid. Unexpectedly, after Dongfang Hanqing left Japan, there was no news from him, and he simply disappeared.
After learning about this, Sun Yat-sen flew into a rage. He initially planned to search for it everywhere, but considering the great significance of the gold tablet, it was finally agreed that the matter of the gold tablet be kept strictly confidential and limited to the smallest circle of people in the Tongmenghui. Huang Xing was responsible for retrieving the gold tablet or finding the secret of the gold tablet.
However, after 1906, Huang Xing was unable to find a moment of peace due to the revolution. To ensure that the matter of finding Jinbai was not forgotten, he entrusted it to his adopted son Nan Longzhang. Although Nan Longzhang was not a member of the Tongmenghui, he had followed Huang Xing for many years and felt obliged to accept.
In 1907, Nan Longzhang secretly swore allegiance to the Tongmenghui and became the only secret member of the Tongmenghui whose identity was known only to Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing. He then set off on the road to find Jin Bo, carrying Jin Bo’s rubbing. At this time, there was still no news of Dongfang Hanqing, and there was no news of Jin Bo either. He wanted to follow the clues on Jin Bo to find the source of the Nine Provinces, but found that there was insufficient information to do so.
Nan Longzhang racked his brains trying to understand where the place referred to in Jin Bo’s text was. So after several years of wandering, he settled down in Hunan. Here he began to calm down and study the Nüshu script. This was undoubtedly a daunting task, especially in an era when there had been no research results on Nüshu. For this reason, Nan Longzhang travelled all over Jiangyong County in Hunan Province and the neighbouring Xiajiang Township in Daoxian County, where Nüshu was popular, and even married and had children in this area, just to learn more about Nüshu from the local women. A few years later, he finally connected the words on the gold plate: In the southwest of the country, there lives a people called the Bai. Tens of thousands of li to the west, to the east of Qiongdu, to the north of the Bai, to the south of Heishui, to the west of Shifeng, the mountains carry the sky, the earth gives birth to rivers. This is the source of the nine provinces. Alliance! Forever keep this.
However, this passage only caused Nan Longzhang to be even more confused. Literally translated, it means: ‘To the southwest of the national capital, there lives a people called the Bai Min… And tens of thousands of miles to the west of where the Bai Min live, in a place located to the east of the Qiong people, to the north of the Bai people, to the south of the Heishui River, and to the west of the Shifeng, where the mountains soar into the clouds, bearing the sky, the earth gave rise to the source of the river. This is the source of the nine provinces. I swear an oath to protect this forever.
Nanlongzhang studied this passage in order to follow the clues on the gold plate to find the source of the nine provinces, but now he has discovered that although this passage marks the location of the source of the nine provinces, due to insufficient references and related information, it is still impossible to ascertain the location of the source of the nine provinces. First, the most critical question is where is the ‘country’ referred to in the phrase ‘southwest of the country’? What era’s country is it? Which ethnic group’s country is it? Without resolving these questions, the next step of work simply cannot be carried out. The second problem that needs to be solved is that Bai Min and Hei Shui are both recorded in the Shan Hai Jing, but no one knows their exact location, and it is also unknown whether Bai Min and Hei Shui here are the Bai Min and Hei Shui in the Shan Hai Jing. It is even more difficult to find out the truth about Shi Feng. On the one hand, it is because Shi Feng is not found in ancient books, and literally, it is not certain whether it is the name of a place, a country or a tribe. The last question is: What does the phrase ‘mountains carry the sky, and the earth gives birth to rivers’ mean? If a mountain towers into the sky, that is understandable, but the meaning of the phrase ‘the mountain bears the sky’ is that the high mountain bears the sky; ‘the earth gives birth to the source of the river’ is also difficult to understand. Du means a water bubble, and it also refers to a large river. The source of the river naturally has something to do with water, but the meaning of the words is that the earth gives birth to the source of the river, which is completely inconsistent with the five elements. In Nan Longzhang’s opinion, this is simply impossible.
Because of these few lines of characters, Nan Longzhang spent more than 20 years. During this period, he heard news of his adoptive father Huang Xing from time to time. At one moment, he said that he had failed in his uprising in Guangzhou and had fled; at another moment, he said that he was rushing back to the country to Wuhan to take charge of commanding the revolutionary army against Yuan Shikai’s new army; at another moment, he said that he had gone to Japan again because of the failure of the Second Revolution; at another moment, he said that he had broken with Sun Yat-sen because of the Chinese Revolutionary Party… Events outside were constantly changing, and Nan Longzhang could only silently pay attention to them. Usually, he could only concentrate on the research of gold and platinum, but he never made any progress. Just as he was almost desperate, had once again gone to Japan, and then that he had broken with Sun Yat-sen over the Chinese Revolutionary Party… Nanlongzhang could only silently observe the constant changes in the outside world. Usually, he could only concentrate on the research of Jinbo, but he never achieved anything. Just when he was almost desperate, a sentence in the ‘Huayang Guozhi’ suddenly opened up his thinking. The sentence was: Chengdu, known in ancient times as a damp and humid place, has deep springs and is the head of the Four Dus.
‘In this way, my ancestor found the word ‘duyuan’ in this sentence and, with a ‘let’s give it a try’ mentality, came to Chengdu.’
During his time in Chengdu for more than a year, Nan Longzhang collected legends and historical anecdotes from all over, but he couldn’t find the right door to enter. Until one day in 1933, he saw a man on Shisun Street in the west of the city. Nan Longzhang glanced at the man, forced down his excitement, and followed him quietly. That man was exactly the person he had wanted to meet for more than 20 years – Dongfang Hanqing.
Chapter 16: Destroying the stones
‘Just like that Indian devil did, they have already started destroying the stones of the stone circle. Didn’t you know?‘
’When did this happen?‘ Yan Qingbo asked in surprise.
’Just now. Five stones in the southern suburbs park were destroyed, so I hurried here to ask Professor Wu for help, I’m afraid it’s too late if I’m late.‘
’What exactly happened, and how do you know?’ Although Nan Qingyi had said a lot, Shen Yuan still looked at him warily.
‘We have been keeping a close watch on everyone in the Dongfang family. Recently, we discovered that Dongfang Bai, the sole descendant of the Dongfang family, often goes to Nanxiao Park, Shisun Street, Zhiji Street, and Tianya Street, and every time he keeps looking at a few stones. So I investigated the background of those stones and discovered that they are not simple…‘
’We know,’ Shen Yuan interrupted.
‘Uh, okay, I’ll skip it. In order to keep tabs on Dongfang Bai’s movements, I’ve developed informants in all the places where these stones are located, and have asked people to keep an eye on everything around the stones. Tonight, my informant told me that someone had infiltrated the South Suburbs Park, but before he could react, the Five Stones were destroyed.’
Forty minutes ago, it was raining heavily, and Nan Jiao Park was full of puddles. The park had already closed, and the Five Stones, which had looked so smooth during the day, were now surrounded by a soft white light. The leader was a middle-aged man with a face like a child’s, all the organs squished together, while the people behind him were a motley crew, some with typical European or American looks, some with Indian looks, it was like an army of eight nations.
The leader shouted, ‘Do it.’
A young man stepped forward in response, deftly placing several bombs around the stone, then waved his hand to indicate for everyone to retreat. At that moment, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky and fell squarely on his head. The young man didn’t even have time to grunt before he immediately fell to the ground, his body blackened, his three souls returned to the West and his seven spirits were ethereal.
The middle-aged man who had given the order yelled, ‘Everyone, get back, I’ll personally detonate it.’
After everyone had retreated, the middle-aged man detonated some other bombs. At that moment, another thunderbolt fell, landing on his head. But by then, he had already pressed the detonator. There was a loud boom, and the middle-aged man fell to the ground, while only the surface of the boulder was shattered.
Seeing that two people had been killed and the five stones only had superficial damage, the Indian-looking man ordered the others in fluent Chinese, ‘Bring the most powerful bomb.’ In an instant, numerous bombs were piled on the Five Stones, and ‘boom!’ thundered the explosion, along with the bombs. Then there was another loud noise, and a ball of fire fell from the sky, turning several people into charred corpses.
When the smoke cleared, the five stones were still intact.
The Indian cursed and shouted, ‘Bring it.’
Immediately, someone behind him handed him a gun-like object and a stand. The Indian placed the gun on the stand. I don’t know what he did, but a white light shot out of the gun and landed on the five stones, making a loud noise and sending countless debris flying from the stones. The Indian then told everyone to quickly leave.
At that moment, thunderclaps fell one after the other, blinding the informant and deafening him. After a long while, he noticed that the gun had actually withstood the thunderclaps and the white light was still shooting out. Finally, after a series of booms, a pit more than three metres wide and several metres deep was formed where the stones had been, and the pit was full of fine stone powder. At this time, under the bombardment of the thunder, the gun had also begun to smoke, and the white light it shot had become increasingly thin. The remnants of the stones in the pit continued to explode, and it seemed that all the thunder in the sky had converged here. Finally, after the last round of concentrated bombing, the white light from the gun disappeared completely, and at this time, the five stones had completely disappeared.
The Indian waited until the thunder stopped rumbling before he regained his composure. While instructing someone to put a fake stone in its place, he said to one of his men, ‘The Five Stones have been destroyed. Report to the Commander-in-Chief.’
One of the entourage immediately took out his mobile phone and made a call: ‘Commander-in-Chief, the Five Stones have been destroyed…’
After watching the group tidy up the place, the informant rushed back to the office and reported everything to Nan Qingyi. After hearing this, Nan Qingyi hurriedly went to Professor Wu.
‘So the Five Stone Tablets have been destroyed,’ said Professor Wu, looking out of the window and listening to the growing thunder. A hint of worry appeared in his eyes. ‘Xiao Yan, how do you police do things? Didn’t you say you had arranged for someone to guard the tablets?’
‘According to my informant, those police officers were all taken down,’
‘Could it really be that heaven is punishing Chengdu?’ Professor Wu muttered to himself.
At this moment, Nan Qingyi’s phone suddenly rang. After answering the call, he didn’t say a word, as if the person on the other end of the line was anxiously reporting something to him. His face grew increasingly gloomy, and after a long time, he hung up the phone in despair: ‘All the stones have been destroyed, except for Tianya Stone.’
‘How do you know this?’
“One of my clansmen has worked hard for more than ten years to infiltrate the Tang Empire. He was the one who just called.’
‘Why didn’t he report it before the Tang Empire people moved? It’s too late to say this now.‘
’You think he doesn’t want to? That organisation in the Tang Empire is not only mysterious, but also tightly organised with strict hierarchies. He is just a small person and has no way of getting in touch with the upper echelons. If it weren’t for the fact that the Tang Empire needs a lot of manpower tonight to destroy the Five Stones, Tianya Stone and other stones, he would never have been able to get involved in these things and find out this news.’
It turned out that Tang Changsheng, the governor of Yizhou of the Great Tang Empire, followed the advice of Feiji and transferred officials from the prefectures of Yizhou, Lizhou and Kui Prefecture to form five action teams to go to various parts of Chengdu to destroy the Five Stone, Tianya Stone, Zhiji Stone, Shisun Stone and Dijiao Stone.
Kang Changsheng personally led the team that destroyed the stone at the corner of the city, which was located in the old house of the Eastern White family in the west of the city. Like the other stones, this one also had a legendary supernatural power, but because it was submerged in history, it had long been unknown. It was not until Fei Jishi uncovered the secret of the source of the Nine Provinces that this stone attracted attention.
According to Nan Qingyi, Kang Changsheng sat in the mansion earlier, while keeping tabs on the four action teams, destroying the stone at the corner of the city. The action team he sent to the southern suburbs park was the first to report back. After hearing that the matter had been successfully completed, he excitedly ordered his entourage that all units should immediately destroy the stones according to the original plan, and asked everyone to bear in mind that once the stones were destroyed with explosives, it would cause thunder and lightning to strike from the sky, and weapon No. 1 would need to be used to avoid the might of the heavens. The so-called Weapon No. 1 is a weapon that looks like a gun and emits a white light. It is extremely powerful and was brought by a few Indians in the empire for this operation. Kang Changsheng values these weapons very much and has specially arranged for personnel to use them. Only a few people in the entire Yizhou Governor’s Office know the principle of this weapon.
The destruction of the cornerstones went smoothly. After destroying the cornerstones, Kang Changsheng sat in the hall, looking at the rain, which was getting heavier and heavier. A smug smile appeared on his face, and he said confidently that the five cornerstones had been destroyed, and that the remaining cornerstones, stone pillars and supporting stones would also be destroyed immediately, provided that nothing unexpected happened. A few days later, a major disaster would occur, and when the Tang Dynasty was restored, everyone involved would be granted hereditary titles.
Before Kang Changsheng could finish speaking, good news came: one group reported that the Zhiji Stone had been successfully destroyed, while another reported that the Shishun had also been destroyed.
The team operating on Tianya Stone South Street had not reported back, but later it was reported that there had been a problem with the Tianya Stone, as if it had been stopped by some force. According to Nan Qingyi, they were rushing to Tianya Stone South Street.
‘Professor Wu, we must act now, or I don’t know what will happen,‘ Nan Qingyi urged after recounting what had just happened.
’No rush, Nan Qingyi, first answer me this question. You said that the people of the Great Tang Empire have discovered the secret of the source of the Nine Provinces, but what exactly is the source of the Nine Provinces?‘
’I don’t know, and neither have my people. If I knew, why would I need to come to you for help? I beg you, if you are Chinese, then hurry up and act.’
Luo San noticed that as soon as he heard this, Professor Wu’s face flashed with murderous intent, but then he still hesitated: ‘It’s not easy to take action. Without knowing the location of the source of the Nine Provinces, we cannot take targeted measures. Right now, only the Tianya Stone has not been destroyed, and all the other stones have been destroyed. As soon as the Tianya Stone is destroyed, a major earthquake will occur, and the entire city of Chengdu will sink underground and become a flooded country. There is no time left. Even if there is time, we don’t know where to go to find a solution to the problem.’
‘Find the descendants of the Qiong people and ask them what these stones are all about. Besides, the ‘Gu Yue Du Jing’ also mentions the Qiong people, so it would be a good idea to go and find them,’ Luo San suggested.
‘Descendants of the Qiong people? The Qiong people disappeared from the historical record forever at the end of the Western Han Dynasty. No one knows where they went. When the protective power of the ancestral tomb weakened, our clan searched for the Qiong people everywhere, but we never found out anything…‘
’But a people can’t just disappear into thin air. They must have left something behind.’
‘Xiaosan is right, Professor Wu, don’t hesitate any longer, let’s go find the Qiong people.‘
Professor Wu pondered for a long time before answering, “The Qiong people did leave something behind, but even if we find it, we’ll most likely not find anything.”
’What is it? How do you know if you’ve found it or not? We can’t just give up.‘
’Fine, let’s continue like this, everyone set off together and go to Xichang to find the Qiong people.’
After some preparation, at 1am, everyone was already in the car that Nan Qingyi had obtained, except Yan Qingbo. Along the way, Professor Wu told everyone about the history of the Qiong people. In ancient Chinese history, the Qiong people, also known as the Qiongdu Yis, were a mysterious and unpredictable people. The vague records of historians from past dynasties have left behind only trivial fragments. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, the Qiong people originated in Qiongdu (present-day Xichang in Sichuan Province) and spread out from there in all directions. Eventually, their territory extended from Shu Prefecture in the north to Yelang and Dian in the south. Among the ancient ethnic minorities in southwestern Sichuan, the Qiong people were strong enough to keep pace with Dian and Yelang. Sima Qian once recorded, ‘From Dian in the north, there are a dozen or so chieftains, and Qiongdu is the largest.’
The Qiong people were a martial and generous people with a fierce folkway. During times of war, the Qiong people often mobilised the entire clan. Because of this, the Qiong people were obsessed with expanding their territory and always tried to infiltrate along the banks of the Dadu River, once reaching the Qionglai Mountains in Chengdu. Qionglai Mountain was originally called Zhuoshan. When the Qiong people arrived at this mountain, the mountain was high and the road was long, and it was not easy to climb. When other southwestern barbarians saw the Qiong people coming from this mountain, they changed the name to Qionglai (Qionglai) Mountain. The Qiong people also established the town of Linqiong here. When the tyrannical Qin dynasty conquered Shu, most of the ethnic minorities in Shu became vassals of the Qin. Linqiong, which had been the gateway to the Qiong people’s northern country, was seized by the Qin and Linqiong City was established. The Qiong people retreated to their home base of Qiongdu. After entering the Han Dynasty, the Qiong people continued to rebel, but in the face of the powerful Han army, the rebellions quickly ended in disintegration. Eventually, the Han army advanced deep into the heart of the Qiong people’s homeland of Qiongdu and established Yuexi County. The next major rebellion of the Qiong people was at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, during the reign of Wang Mang, who usurped the throne. The Qiong people’s leader, Ren Gui, killed the Yuexi prefect, Mei Gen, and made himself King of Qionggu, leading the Qiong people to once again declare independence. This uprising was quickly suppressed by the rulers, and after that, the Qiong people never recovered and disappeared from the historical record. The only thing left behind are hundreds of ancient tombs made of huge stones, known as the ‘Dashi Tombs.’ ‘The only way to find traces of the Qiong people is to start with the Dashi Tombs,’ Professor Wu said with uncertainty in his tone.
Gradually everyone became tired, and Luo San fell asleep in a daze. Vaguely, Luo San heard Professor Wu answer a phone call. He didn’t care about it and changed his position, continuing to sleep.
‘Tianya Stone has also been destroyed.’ In the morning, after everyone woke up, Professor Wu immediately reported the bad news. Yan Qingbo had told him that in the early morning. In order to keep in touch with Professor Wu and the others, Yan Qingbo had specially given Professor Wu a mobile phone. After receiving the news that Tianya Stone had been destroyed in the early morning, Yan Qingbo immediately informed Professor Wu.
Since the appearance of a group of dogs on Tianya Stone South Street, the police had arranged for two policemen to wait in the room where Tianya Stone stood. The two men were ordered to stay here only because of the requirements of their leaders, and they had nothing to do themselves, so at this time, they were both sleepy and yawning. Suddenly, a plump policeman heard a rush of footsteps outside the door, and immediately patted the other, thinner policeman next to him,
‘What is it, sleeping?’ The thinner policeman was very sleepy, and although he was woken up, he complained in his mouth.
‘Shh!’ whispered the fatter policeman, “there’s a noise outside.” He leaned closer to the crack in the door and looked outside, but saw that the heavy rain outside had stopped at some point. On the narrow road, several men in black were peeking around suspiciously. Seeing that there was no one around, they squatted down on the street edge and dug with their hands on the curb. Soon, several people buried an urn-like object in the ground, stood up and quickly left.
‘There’s something going on. Let’s go take a look,’ the fatter policeman suggested, and the thinner policeman nodded. Quietly, the two opened the door and cautiously made their way to the street. The bright moon was in the sky, but the Tianya Shinan Street was still dark. The two men went to the place where the black-clad men had buried something earlier, and saw that there was indeed an excavated mark on the ground. They immediately began digging from there. As they had no tools, they had to dig with their hands. Although the place looked like it had been dug before, the soil was very hard and the two men had a hard time digging. At that moment, the two men suddenly heard a light sound of footsteps. They looked up nervously, but saw no one on the street. Could it be an illusion? The fat policeman looked at the thin policeman, but saw that he was also looking around. Could it be one of those things? Although the fat policeman had dealt with criminal cases for a long time, he firmly believed in ghosts. At this thought, he couldn’t help feeling a chill down his spine, and quickly said to the thin policeman, ‘Forget it, let’s just go back to the house.’ The thin policeman, however, shook his head and said, ‘We’re both policemen, what are we afraid of? Let’s keep digging.’ The fat policeman had no choice but to continue digging. The two men dug for a long time, their fingers blistered, but they never saw anything on the ground.
Suddenly, a series of loud thunderclaps sounded in the sky. The two men looked up, but there were only a few stars in the sky, and they couldn’t see any lightning at all. However, they clearly heard a loud thunderclap right above their heads. Amidst the thunder, there were also sounds of something breaking. Just as they were wondering, they heard a heavy breathing sound coming from beside them. The sound didn’t come from one person, but seemed to come from more than ten people. The fat policeman couldn’t help but become more and more scared, while the thin policeman no longer pretended to be tough, and whispered to the fat policeman, ‘Let’s go back to the room.’
The two of them immediately stood up and walked back. Back in the room, the two of them hurriedly closed the door and let out a big sigh of relief. However, the fat policeman immediately felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had been drenched in water. Looking up, he saw that although the roof was dilapidated, not a single drop of rain was falling. However, his body felt as if it was constantly being doused in water, and in a few moments, it was drenched, just as if it were pouring outside without an umbrella. The two men hurriedly looked around for somewhere to take cover, but water was pouring down from everywhere. In no time at all, they were soaked to the skin, completely drenched. The fat policeman suddenly remembered that an old policeman had once told them that people who died tragically would have a lot of resentment in their hearts, and if that resentment couldn’t be released, it would repeat the process of death over and over again at the place where they died. Could this be happening to them? The fat policeman looked at the skinny policeman in alarm, but saw that he was also looking panicked. ‘Could it be those things?’ the fat policeman asked in a low voice. The thin policeman gave him a fierce glare and said, ‘Keep your voice down, do you want them to haunt you?’ The fat policeman did not shut up, but asked in a trembling voice, ‘Do you think a dog will appear and bite us?’
‘Shut up,’ the thin policeman said, a flash of fear in his eyes and his voice shaking.
The fat policeman was even more panicked, and dared not speak at the moment, keeping close to the skinny policeman and not daring to take a single step away. The skinny policeman had no choice but to stand close to the wall. He found that standing in this place seemed to hide from the rain that came from nowhere. The fat policeman said, ‘Are we running into a wall of ghosts?’ The skinny policeman nervously nodded and said, ‘It’s possible.’ ‘I heard that a wall of ghosts can be broken by urinating, so why don’t we try it?’ the fat policeman asked cautiously.
‘That’s good. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Let’s give it a try.’ The skinny policeman said, and started to act, but he was so nervous that he couldn’t squeeze out a single drop of urine. The fat policeman had been so scared that he was about to wet his pants, but now he too couldn’t squeeze out anything. Just as they were getting anxious, the two suddenly heard the door creak. They turned their heads to look at the door, but saw that it was closed properly and hadn’t moved at all. The two were even more terrified. At that moment, they heard a sound of footsteps again. It seemed that more than ten people had passed by them, but when they looked around, there was no one in the room. The two men were so scared that they turned pale. The fat policeman held onto the clothes of the thin policeman tightly and stuttered, ‘What was that?’ ‘Don’t pull me, what else could it be?’ The thin policeman was already scared to death, and when the fat policeman pulled him, he became even more annoyed, but he kept his voice down. The fat policeman immediately dared not speak. The two stood close to the wall, not daring to move.
It was still pouring with rain in the sky. A man rode past Tianya Shinan Street on his bicycle, hurrying to work. This was the road he took every day.
Driving slowly along the dim and narrow street, the man looked up and saw two people standing outside a house in the darkness. Startled, he lost control of the bike and it veered, sending him crashing to the ground with a thud. The man scrambled to his feet and rode off as fast as he could.
Two policemen, one fat and one thin, had been standing close to the wall. They suddenly heard a loud noise and looked up to see a man on a bicycle fall to the ground in the street. He was getting up in a panic, as if he had seen a ghost, and hurriedly walked away. The two policemen looked at what was happening in front of them in amazement. A second ago, they were still inside the house, but now they found themselves standing outside under the eaves, and it was still pouring with rain. The two of them didn’t know what had happened, and it took a while for them to come back to their senses. They realised that they were both soaked to the skin, and hurried back inside. However, they saw messy footprints on the floor inside the house. The footprints were wet, and it was obvious that they had brought water in from outside. The Tianya Stone in the centre of the house was intact, but in the corner of the house, someone had dug a deep pit. The two of them walked closer and discovered that the pit was surprisingly one they had dug themselves.
‘Why don’t I understand?‘ Nan Qingyi frowned after listening to Professor Wu’s account.
’What’s not to understand?’ Professor Wu looked meaningfully at Nan Qingyi, ’The two policemen encountered a wall of ghosts and were actually hypnotised, creating illusions before their eyes. Then the people from the Tang Empire took advantage of the fact that they couldn’t see the real situation and destroyed the Tianya Stone.’
‘Isn’t the Tianya Stone still at the scene?‘
’Xiaosan, don’t you remember what happened during the destruction of the five stones? At that time, there was also a thunderbolt that exploded above the stone, something made a cracking sound, and finally a fake stone appeared at the scene. So I conclude that the Tianya Stone has been destroyed.’
Nan Qingyi anxiously said, ‘If the Tianya Stone has been destroyed, does that mean the source of the Nine Provinces has been completely broken?’
‘No, not yet. If the source of the Nine Provinces had been completely broken, there would have been a major earthquake in Chengdu.’
‘So what do we do now?’
“Go to Xichang and continue to look for the Qiong people.’
Chapter 17 The Qiong People of Dashi
It was only around 10am the next morning that Luo San and his party arrived at the banks of the Anning River, dozens of kilometres from Xichang City. The Anning River originates from the Yalong River, flows through Liangshan Prefecture in Sichuan, and empties into the Jinsha River to the south. Standing on the banks of the Anning River, Luo San saw a series of ‘big stone buns’ made of huge boulders, which looked like they weighed tons, or even dozens of tons.
‘Are these big stone tombs?‘ Luo San looked at the big stone bales in front of him and really couldn’t associate them with tombs.
’Of course these are big stone tombs. Xiao Sanzi, do you have any questions?‘
’I was just wondering, with so many tombs being looted in China, how come no one has looted these tombs?’ Luo San’s question made Shen Yuan and Nan Qingyi both look sideways at Professor Wu, hoping to get an answer from him.
‘That’s because on the one hand, no one knows that these things are tombs,’ Professor Wu’s answer was quite simple. Because the locals did not know the history of these “boulder bags,” the ancestors of some villages in Liangshan Prefecture were Han people who moved into the Anning River basin during the Qing Dynasty’s Huguang Filling of Sichuan, and they were far less ancient than these ’boulder bags.’ Seeing the puzzled expression on Luo San’s face again, Professor Wu continued to explain: ‘In 1974, archaeologists Tong Enzheng and Zhao Dianzeng excavated a Neolithic site in Xichang and opened a “big stone bag”, which unearthed a large number of earthenware and human bones, thus concluding that the “big stone bags” were originally some very ancient tombs. It was also discovered that this type of tomb was built with stones to form the tomb chamber, and the top was covered with boulders. Since then, archaeology has called them stone tombs, and it has also been determined that these tombs are the tombs of the Qiong people.‘
’Stone tombs, indeed stone tombs. Any random stone is bigger than all of us put together,’ Luo San laughed bitterly, ’what are your brilliant ideas for how to proceed with the investigation?’
Nan Qingyi looked at the large stone covering the chest and said with confidence, ‘That’s easy! Our clan has many people in Sichuan, and there are a few here as well. Get some cranes and these stones will be no problem.’
‘That’s great,’ Luo San patted Nan Qingyi’s shoulder in appreciation. Professor Wu and Shen Yuan looked expressionlessly at the large stone covering in front of them.
An hour later, several cranes arrived, accompanied by dozens of workers. A middle-aged man walked up to Nan Qingyi and bowed, saying, ‘Everything is ready. We will excavate the stone tombs in the name of the County Cultural Bureau’s archaeological team.’
‘Nan Yi, come here. I’ll introduce you. These three are all my friends. This Professor Wu knows a lot about the Qiong people. Wait a minute. Listen to him,’ Nan Qingyi instructed.
Nan Yi and the others immediately stepped forward and respectfully said to Professor Wu, ‘We are at your disposal.’ Professor Wu smiled and nodded to Nan Yi, ‘You are welcome.’ Then, his eyes swept the inside of Nan Yi’s elbows, where he saw a mark. A strange expression flashed across his face, but he immediately asked with a smile, ‘Is it true that you, Brother Nan, are an original resident of this area?’
‘…’ Nan Yi was taken aback when Professor Wu suddenly asked such a question, and said, ‘No! We moved here ten years ago by order of the clan chief to investigate Jin Bo.‘
’Oh, I see.’ Professor Wu said with regret, “I was hoping to learn more about the Qiong people’s tombs.”
After Nan Yi left, Nan Qingyi said to the three of them, ’I’m sorry to have made you laugh. Thanks to my great-great-grandfather, I’ve been a cloth-like person in the village for a long time, so the clan members all treat me like this. I can’t get them to loosen up.’
‘Isn’t the cloth master very awe-inspiring…’ Luo San heard that Nan Qingyi was the cloth master and was excited to ask something, but was interrupted by Professor Wu: “Since ancient times, heroes have come from young people. Nan is so young and is the cloth master of the tribe. He will surely accomplish great things in the future. We will rely on you for the excavation of the Dashimen tomb in front of us.” Professor Wu said, smiling slightly at Nan Qingyi, ’We don’t need to pay attention to any archaeological procedures, we just need to use a crane to remove the stones.’
Nan Qingyi nodded and shouted to Nan Yi in the distance, ‘Let’s get started.’
Following the crane, Luo San arrived in front of a large stone tomb. It was only then that he could see clearly how large these stone tombs were. Judging from the appearance of the largest tomb, it was at least 20 metres wide, 30 metres long, and 3 metres high. The smallest one was also 10 metres wide, 20 metres long, and 2.5 metres high. The stones that made up the large stone tombs weighed a few tons at the smallest and tens of tons at the largest. Just now, when I was looking from a distance, these tombs were just big stone bales, but now when I look from up close, I find that there are huge stones standing in front of and behind the bales, as if they served a special purpose.
Luo San was about to walk around the large stone tomb to take a closer look, but was suddenly pulled by Shen Yuan. Luo San turned his head, but saw Shen Yuan staring into the distance. Following Shen Yuan’s gaze, Luo San saw a man standing on the hill across the river, arms folded, looking over towards them. ‘Is there a problem?’ Luo San asked in a low voice.
‘For some reason, I always feel that person is no ordinary person.’ Shen Yuan had excellent eyesight, and even though there was a river in the way, he could still see that person’s gaze constantly lingering on the construction site. “Xiaosan, I feel that our trip to Xichang has been too smooth, and I’m sure…” Shen Yuan wanted to say something else, but stopped because of the noise around them.
Shen Yuan was right, everything had been too smooth before, so problems were beginning to appear now. The workers brought by Nanyi were arguing with Nanyi. After a while, Luo San and the others realised that these workers were all local villagers, and as soon as they heard that they were going to dig up the boulder packs, they all stopped working. ‘These boulder packs are where the ghosts rest, we shouldn’t disturb them. If we dig up the boulder packs and disturb the ghosts, everyone will die,’ the elderly man in charge said to Nanyi with a grave expression.
‘Yes, don’t disturb the ghosts!’ “No matter what you want to do, don’t disturb the ghosts!” “No matter how much money you offer, it’s not okay.” The crowd clamored. The elderly leader also said earnestly to Nanyi, “Young man, you can do archaeology, but it’s not right to dig up a family grave, not to mention that this tomb is indeed not simple.” “Yes, be careful of having sons with no anuses,” the others chimed in.
No matter how Nanyi tried to persuade them, most of the workers, except for a few, quickly left. Just when Professor Wu and the others had given up hope of excavating the stone tomb, Nan Qingyi once again demonstrated the strength of the Luoyue people. Half an hour later, nearly a hundred more workers hurried over and, without saying a word, quickly got to work. Amid the roar of the crane, a stone tomb was opened, but nothing was found. So everyone placed their hopes on the tomb next to it. They saw a huge stone weighing several tons on the top of the tomb being lifted. As the huge stone was about to be moved off the top of the tomb, the steel cable tied to the huge stone suddenly broke, and with a loud noise, the huge stone fell back onto the top of the tomb.
“Quick, go and replace the steel cable immediately,’ Nanyi commanded, and several workers quickly climbed to the top of the boulder and began to re-tie the steel cable. Soon, the steel cable was re-tied, and with a clicking sound, the cable was once again taut, dragging the boulder slowly upward. Suddenly, a bright flash of light flashed, the steel cable snapped, and the two sections of steel cable snapped back, just hitting the heads of the two workers, who did not even have time to grunt before they became ghosts.
‘The ghosts in the tomb have come out, everyone run.’ After realising that the bright light came from the tomb, someone shouted, and this triggered even more panic among the nearly 100 workers, who were already panicking because of the death of their companions and the sudden change in the weather. In the panic, the workers left one after the other. However, at this moment, a gust of wind blew by, raising a cloud of dust, and everyone couldn’t help but cover their eyes.
Amidst the dust, Luo San lowered his head, narrowed his eyes, and turned his head in the direction of Shen Yuan. He was about to see if Shen Yuan was in front of him when he saw a hand reach out and firmly grasp his hand. Relying on the feeling of the hand in his palm, Luo San knew it was Shen Yuan’s hand. Luo San’s heart fluttered, and he wanted to say something, but Shen Yuan dragged him behind her. ‘Stand behind me and don’t move,’ Shen Yuan whispered. Although Luo San felt that it was unbecoming for a woman to drag him around like this, he understood that Shen Yuan was doing it for his own good, so he didn’t say anything for the time being. He tried his best to look around, but all he could see was the blinding yellow dust, which was even more so than before.
After a while, the strong wind slowly died down. The workers, all of them covered in dust and in a state of panic, immediately began to run back and forth along the road as soon as the wind died down. No matter how Nan Yi shouted, no one was willing to stop.
When the yellow soil in front of Shen Yuan’s eyes dispersed slightly, she immediately focused her attention on the mountain across the river. However, she saw that the man across the river was gone, and there was no sign of him on the surrounding slopes or the riverbank. Luo San, who was standing behind Shen Yuan, saw what she was doing and guessed what she was looking for. He looked around at once, trying to find the man’s figure somewhere else. However, he heard Nan Qingyi laughing beside him and said, ‘No need to look, that guy has long since disappeared. But we can force him to show himself.’
‘Not bad,’ said Professor Wu. ‘We have easily opened all the other tombs, but this one has taken a lot of trouble, so there must be something strange about it. If we open this tomb, the person will definitely appear. And this person must be related to the Qiong people.‘
’Now that the crane is useless, what else can we do?‘
’Xiaosan, I naturally have a way,‘ said Nan Qingyi, taking a box from his hand. Inside the box was a bronze bell. Seeing the bronze bell, Professor Wu couldn’t help but change his expression and exclaimed, “Qu Shandu.”
’Yes! This is exactly Qu Shandu.’
‘What is the Qushan Bell?’ Luo San asked curiously.
Professor Wu answered on his behalf: ’This Qushan Bell is a Qin Dynasty relic. It is said to be a magical object obtained by the First Emperor from the immortals. Because it has the function of driving mountains, it is called the Qushan Bell. The First Emperor used this bell to build the Great Wall. After the Qin Dynasty fell, this bell disappeared without a trace. I never thought it would appear now.’
Nan Qingyi listened to Professor Wu’s words and continued to explain: ‘When the First Emperor conquered the Baiyue region, the Qin army took this bell with them because the Baiyue region was full of deep mountains and narrow valleys. However, during the battle with my Luoyue tribe, the bell was lost in the mountains and forests and was obtained by my tribe. After fumbling around, we finally figured out how to use it. To be honest, there is nothing magical about the Shanshan Bell. It just emits ultrasonic waves that are inaudible to humans but extremely destructive.
‘Can this really repel mountains?’ Luo San looked at the small bell in Nan Qingyi’s hands and still didn’t want to believe it.
‘To find out if it can repel mountains, just watch,’ said Nan Qingyi, and she gently shook the Shanshan Bell.
Although he saw the Mountain-Repelling Bell flip up and down, Luo San didn’t hear a sound. Could this be the Mountain-Repelling Bell? It can’t be broken. Luo San’s doubts were quickly dispelled, because his gaze, like Shen Yuan’s and the others, was focused on the largest stone at the top of the stone tomb. That stone weighed tens of tons, and at the moment it was swaying like a small stone blown by the wind, swaying and swaying, slowly moving towards the edge of the tomb. However, after a few glances, Luo San realised that something was wrong, because the huge stone was swaying less and less, and in the end it only slightly trembled, while Nan Qingyi seemed to be having a hard time, shaking the Qu Shando even more violently.
‘This won’t work.’ Professor Wu shouted, gesturing for Nan Qingyi to stop. “You immediately arrange for someone to prepare gasoline and a high-pressure water gun. We’ll use the method Li Bing used to excavate the mountain when he tried to control the water.”
Nan Qingyi was very clever. As soon as he heard Professor Wu’s arrangement, he immediately understood and immediately instructed Nan Yi and the others to go and buy gasoline and a high-pressure water gun.
In no time, the two supplies were ready. Professor Wu instructed everyone to pour gasoline all over the stone tomb and immediately set up the high-pressure water guns for preparation. As Nan Qingyi gave the order, a raging fire engulfed the entire tomb. It burned for more than 20 minutes. Just after the fire went out, all the high-pressure water guns started spraying water on the stone tomb.
The huge stones on the stone tomb had almost melted from the fire, but now that they were doused in cold water, they suddenly cracked into countless small pieces with a loud ‘cracking’ sound. Nan Qingyi saw this and immediately shook the Dushan Duo even more violently. The broken pieces of the huge stones flew up one after the other. Without the support of the largest stone, the other stones also swayed, and the entire stone tomb began to fall apart. In no time at all, the entire chamber of the stone tomb was revealed.
Except for Professor Wu, everyone else was shocked by the sight when they entered the tomb. The tomb was a white, white space, with no coffin, no gold and silver jewellery as expected, and no large quantities of armour and weapons. There were at least hundreds of human skeletons, but they were all in a mess, and none of them seemed to be intact.
‘Has this place been robbed?’ Luo San asked, looking at the skeletons and the small amount of earthenware around them.
‘No, this tomb has never been opened before,‘ Professor Wu said with certainty. “This is the Qiong people’s burial custom of secondary burial, which means that many years after a person dies, the bones are collected together and reburied. This method exists among many ethnic groups in our country.”
’Even if no one has been in here, what could there be in this tomb? It’s obvious at a glance, there are no secrets,’ Luo San said disheartenedly. ’Professor Wu, I’m afraid we won’t find any clues here.’
‘It’s not completely without a clue. There is something wrong with the skeletons here.’ Shen Yuan squatted at the end of the tomb chamber and looked at the skeletons.
Luo San, Professor Wu and Nan Qingyi walked to the end of the tomb chamber and saw six skeletons lying on the ground. The three of them immediately saw the problem. The skeletons in other places were randomly piled up, but the skeletons here were six skeletons neatly arranged.
‘The bones are black, so they must have all died of poisoning. Judging from the situation, it is very likely that they committed suicide by taking poison,‘ Professor Wu said after taking a look.
’Such a large amount of manpower and resources was invested in building such a large stone tomb, gathering so many bones here, and then committing suicide here by taking poison. What was the purpose of the Qiong people?‘ Nan Qingyi glanced at the bones and asked his own question.
’It is very difficult to answer this question, and there is no answer in the entire historical community,’ Professor Wu replied, ‘Historians have never been able to figure out why the Qiong people spared no effort in building these megalithic tombs, even though they were constantly at war with all the surrounding peoples, and they were constantly on the move, living in a difficult situation. And the stones used in these tombs, especially the huge stones on top of the tombs, are several tons, or even tens of tons. Nowadays, it is rare to see such huge stones along the banks of the Anning River, and there are none around. No one knows where the Qiong people found these huge stones. Perhaps, as the locals say, the stone tombs are the resting place for the souls of the Qiong people. Those who died in battle, in particular, needed a place to rest. So even though the Qiong people suffered heavy casualties in battle and very few survived, they still invested a lot of manpower and resources in the construction of the stone tombs. This was perhaps determined by the Qiong people’s concept of the soul and their concept of death. They wanted to use huge stones to build up an impregnable tomb, so that the dead would not be disturbed in any way.
‘Professor Wu, I suddenly have a question. These Qiong people later mysteriously disappeared from history. Could it be that, like these people in this tomb who committed suicide, after basically all the people in the tribe had died, they carried the bones of their people into the tomb, sealed it, and then committed suicide inside, thus causing the entire tribe to disappear from people’s sight? If that’s the case, then where are we going to find clues to the Qiong people?’
Professor Wu smiled and said, ‘Never mind, as long as we find the man who is fighting against us.’
‘That’s right,’ Nan Qingyi said, ‘this man will stop us from excavating the Qiong people’s tombs, so he must be related to the Qiong people. We will definitely find clues about them.’
‘In that case, let’s go. Is this place so nice to stay?‘ Shen Yuan said and walked away directly. However, at this moment, the stones that had fallen to the ground on the large stone tomb returned to their original positions one after another.
There was darkness in front of them.
’What’s going on?‘ Nan Qingyi exclaimed.
’The stones have returned to their original positions?‘ Luo San touched the surroundings of the tomb.
’Why is this happening? How did these stones return to their original positions?’ Nan Qingyi was extremely shocked. ‘What kind of stones are these?’
‘These are not stones, but something made of a high-tech material that looks like stone. I suspect that it is a material with memory function, no matter how small the particles are, they will reassemble according to the original position. Now I am more certain that the Qiong people’s shamans should definitely be the legacy of a civilization on earth, otherwise it is impossible to have such a high-tech material.’
Professor Wu laughed and knocked on the tomb wall. In this small, enclosed, dark space, Luo San felt an inexplicable sense of suffocation. He suddenly became extremely irritable, and a burst of anger welled up from his belly and rushed to his chest. Luo San couldn’t hold it back, and an angry yell was about to escape his lips when, at that moment, he felt his right hand being grasped by a soft hand. Shen Yuan whispered in his ear, ‘Xiaosan, relax.’
Luo San took a few deep breaths as he did as he was told, and felt a little better, but the question of how to get out still nagged at them.
At that moment, everyone felt the tomb chamber become extremely hot, and the temperature rose many times over in an instant.
‘Wow, it’s hot!’ Luo San reached out to touch the tomb wall, but as soon as he touched the stone wall, he immediately retracted his hand, as it was burnt. His face became grave, and he anxiously shouted, ‘No, it seems like it’s burning outside. Nan Qingyi, it’s not your subordinates messing around outside, is it?’
“Of course not, we’re still inside, how could they do that?’
‘Then what’s going on?‘
’Could it be that this tomb has activated the incineration function on its own, trying to burn us to death inside?‘ Shen Yuan speculated.
’Then why not burn from the inside?‘
’Xiaosan, are you stupid? If it burns from the inside, won’t these bones be turned to ash as well? Naturally, it burns from the outside, which can burn us to death, but it won’t affect the bones in the tomb.‘
’This is not the time to discuss this, let’s quickly figure out how to get out.’
‘There may be a passage here,’ said Professor Wu, who had suddenly spoken up, having run to the end of the tomb chamber at some point.
Hearing Professor Wu’s words, everyone immediately rushed to the end of the tomb chamber. They saw that on the ground at the end of the tomb chamber was a multi-coloured stone, covered in mud. It seemed that the stone had originally been buried in the soil, but because the water from the high-pressure water gun had just rushed into the tomb chamber, washing away the mud on its surface, it had been revealed.
Luo San and the others didn’t know what it was, and Nan Qingyi wanted to ask for an explanation, but Professor Wu didn’t explain, he just took out a needle and pierced his middle finger, dripped the blood on the five-coloured stone, and quickly drew a strange figure, which looked like a snake. The blood that made up the pattern gradually faded as if it were seeping into the stone. Slowly, the entire pattern suddenly came to life, really like a snake, wandering around the stone. In a moment, there was only a sound of ‘ka ka’ resounding. The stone, which originally did not have any cracks, cracked open from the middle. The crack grew larger and larger, eventually revealing a deep cave. A passage with countless steps extended into the endless darkness. A cool breeze blew from the cave, and everyone was overjoyed. It seemed that there was another exit at the bottom.
‘Professor Wu, what kind of magic is this?’ Luo San asked curiously.
‘This is not magic. It is a kind of lock commonly used by the Qiong people. My blood is just the key.’
‘High technology again?’
‘Mm.’
‘Doesn’t the blood of other people work?’
“Of course not. It must be the blood of a descendant of the enlightened royal family or the blood of the Qiong people.’
‘That’s amazing.‘
’This is not the time to talk about this, let’s hurry up and go.’ Shen Yuan urged the others and went down the stairs first. Luo San and the others followed suit.
The passage on the stairs was only over one person high and two people wide, so the four of them walked slowly along it. Luo San had originally thought that the stairs would lead to deep underground, but after only five or six minutes they reached the flat ground. In front of them was a cave the size of a football field. It was a natural cave, with the ceiling dozens of metres above the ground, but it had been artificially carved out, so the ground was extremely flat. The walls of the cave were densely covered with small grottoes, the lowest of which were several metres above the ground, and it seemed that things were stacked inside. At the end of the cave was another passage, from which came the faint sound of dripping water. In the centre of the cave was a huge conical stone pillar, rising from the ground and connecting the bottom and top of the cave. Apart from that, there is nothing else in the cave.
‘There are signs of flooding on the cave walls, but the flooding only reached the bottom of the lowest grottoes. I think that part of the cave was once submerged in water.’ Professor Wu looked around and then pointed at the grottoes on the cave walls and said to everyone, ‘We should go up and take a look at those grottoes. But how?’
‘I’ve got a grappling hook,’ said Nan Qingyi, taking out the tool he had brought with him. Professor Wu successfully entered a grotto. Just as the others were about to go up, Professor Wu shouted, ’No need to come up, it’s too narrow.’
After a while, Professor Wu came out of the grotto and told everyone, ‘Inside there is just a skeleton. Then there are some pottery shards scattered about, probably from the Spring and Autumn Period or the Warring States Period. They are very different from the pottery of the Central Plains, so they must be the pottery of the local ethnic groups. The only strange thing is that there are also some shells here. Judging from the size, they are probably sea shells.’ Professor Wu said, and took a few shells to show everyone.
Why are there sea shells here? Luo San immediately had this question after seeing these shells. Professor Wu seemed to have seen through this and immediately explained to everyone, ‘You must be wondering how there could be sea shells in Sichuan, a landlocked place. In fact, in Sichuan’s archaeological discoveries, sea shells have been found before. During the Sanxingdui excavation, archaeologists unearthed more than 5,000 shells. According to research, all of those shells came from the Indian Ocean, and they were deep-sea shells from the Indian Ocean. Don’t be surprised. In ancient times, exchanges between different regions may have been much closer and more frequent than we think. It is very likely that the Sanxingdui people interacted with people from the Indian subcontinent. The sea shells here may also be the product of exchanges between the Qiong people and the ancient people of the Indian subcontinent.’
These discoveries may be useful to archaeologists, but to Luo San and the others, they are useless. Because there is no way to know the relationship between the ocean and the Qiong people through these things, let alone find a way to protect the source of the Kyushu.
Professor Wu then discussed with everyone, ‘Why don’t we keep going? That passage should lead to the entrance.’
Nan Qingyi, Shen Yuan and Luo San all remained silent. Nan Qingyi was unwilling to accept this, hoping that they could discover some clues here. After all, the Qiong people spent so much effort creating this cave, they wouldn’t just make it without any purpose. This cave must be useful. Shen Yuan and Luo San looked at the cave, especially the stone pillar in the centre, and thought of the ocean under the Four Teachings Land. In that ocean, there was also a stone pillar like this one here, except that the pillar was much larger and taller.
Luo San glanced at Shen Yuan, and the two of them looked at the stone pillar at the same time. Luo San soon noticed that the pillar was divided into four sections, each of which was much smaller than the one above it. The top of each section seemed to be a platform, forming a total of three platforms, except for the last section, which was directly connected to the top of the cave. Professor Wu saw Luo San looking at the stone pillar and couldn’t help but observe it carefully as well. After just a few glances, he noticed something extraordinary about the stone pillar: if the topmost section of the pillar was removed, it would resemble a three-level altar.
When Professor Wu told everyone about this, they all became excited. ‘Let’s go take a look, maybe we can find clues,’ Nan Qingyi said, voicing everyone’s thoughts.
On the first platform, there were only traces of burning and the bones of cattle and sheep. The second platform was the same, except that there were some huge tortoise shells left behind. Everyone pinned their hopes on the third platform. When they reached the third platform, they discovered that it was only about 20 square metres in size, with no traces of burning, but with a skeleton lying on it. Everyone carefully walked onto the platform and looked closely at the skeleton in front of them. The skeleton was tall, with a high nose and prominent cheekbones.
After looking at the corpse for a while, Luo San looked up at the cave ceiling not far above his head. He was stunned when he saw that there was actually a painting there. The colours were very pale, and when they were on the ground, it was dark in the cave, so he hadn’t noticed it. Now that he was closer, he could see it clearly.
The painting, which appeared to have been drawn with coloured stones, depicted a group of people fishing for a living in the middle of an expansive ocean. The lines of the entire scene were quite thick, and it was basically just a freehand sketch, but one person had drawn it very carefully. That person had a strange face, bulging eyes, a tall, large nose, and shoulders that were slumped. The most peculiar thing was that the person in the painting also had a short tail. In the middle of the ocean in the painting was a towering mountain peak that reached up to the sky.
Luo San immediately understood that it depicted the ocean beneath Chengdu, but what was the story of the people in the painting? Various thoughts flashed through Luo San’s mind. The Qiong people disappeared from the historical record during the Eastern Han Dynasty, but did this mean that in the ancient times before that, there were people living in the ocean beneath Chengdu? The Qiong people never entered the centre of the Chengdu Plain in their lives, so how did they know about the Chengdu underground ocean? And why did they build a miniature underground ocean thousands of miles away from Chengdu, on the banks of the Anning River? Could it be that this was the Qiong people’s homeland? And why were the people in the painting so strange, especially the eyes and tails?
‘Sanxingdui Big Standing Man?’ At this moment, Nan Qingyi also saw the painting, and when he saw the portrait, an exclamation escaped his lips.
‘What Sanxingdui Big Standing Man?’ Professor Wu, who was buried in the white bones, heard Nan Qingyi’s exclamation and looked up, asking. Luo San pointed to the painting on the cave ceiling. Professor Wu looked at it, lost in thought, unable to speak for a long time, and only spoke after a long while: “Gorgonians! This is the Gorgonian people that historians have been looking for for many years, and I never thought they would appear here.” Professor Wu looked at the painting blankly, and suddenly leaned over and rummaged through the white bones. It was clear that Professor Wu was very excited, his hands shaking the whole time. Soon he stopped what he was doing and gently laid the bones down, as if he was afraid of messing them up. Following his gaze, Luo San saw a few small bones under the butt of the skeleton. Luo San subconsciously looked up at the portrait in the painting and suddenly understood that those were exactly what the skeleton itself had. This person should be the same as the one in the painting, someone with a tail. Luo San just didn’t know why Nan Qingyi called it the Sanxingdui Big Man, and Professor Wu called it the Gorgon Man…
Professor Wu seemed to be very excited about the discovery in front of him, and it took a long time for him to calm down and tell Luo San and the others about the history of the Sanxingdui Big Man and the Gorgon Man. The bronze Big Man is a landmark cultural relic unearthed from Sanxingdui. The statue is 180 cm high and 260.8 cm high. The statue was cast in segments and embedded, and is hollow inside, divided into two parts: the figure and the base. The figure wears a tall crown and a three-layered garment with narrow sleeves and half-sleeves, with intricate and exquisite patterns, mainly of dragons, supplemented by birds, insects and eyes, and a square-checkered belt ornament. Its hands are in a ring-like grip, and its arms are slightly in a embracing position in front of its chest. He wears anklets on his feet and stands barefoot on a square pedestal in the shape of a monster. The overall image is dignified and solemn, as if it is showing a powerful person with supernatural powers performing magic. The square platform on which he stands can be understood as the altar or sacred mountain of the Taoist temple where he performs magic. And his appearance is similar to the human figure in this pattern.
The Gorgons were a mysterious ethnic group in ancient Shu history, only found in the legends of the Qiang people. There is an ancient legend among the Qiang people: in ancient times, the ancestors of the Qiang people had many major migrations, and in one of them they came to the upper reaches of the Minjiang River with their cattle and sheep. Here, surrounded by mountains, there was abundant water and grass, and the climate was pleasant. The Qiang people were about to settle down when they suddenly encountered the Gorgans and a fierce battle for land began. The Qiang people were defeated time and again and were about to abandon the land and flee when they suddenly received a revelation from the gods in their sleep. They made new weapons from dolomite and wooden sticks and tied wool around the neck of each member of their tribe as a sign of identification. When they fought the Gorgans again, they finally defeated them. Since then, the Qiang people have lived and worked in peace and contentment here. And because of this, the Qiang people have always regarded white stone as sacred. But since then, the Gorgs have disappeared from the pages of history. This was a fleeting people, but if that was all there was to them, they would not be mysterious. The real mystery lies in their appearance.
The Qiang epic ‘The Great Qiang-Gog War’ describes what the Gorgi people looked like. From these descriptions, it can be seen that the Gorgi people were strange people with bulging eyes that could not look straight ahead, tails, and short but powerful bodies. When their tails gradually withered, they knew their time was near and so they lay down in their tombs to die.
“However, nowadays there are no people anywhere who have bulging eyes, are short, and have tails like the Gorgi people. Has thousands of years of evolution made modern people no longer have the physical characteristics of the Gorgonians? Or did the Gorgonians disappear in a war with the Qiang people? Did the Qiang people caricature the appearance of this hostile people and the losers? Or did such people never exist? Historians have debated this endlessly. Most people are skeptical about the appearance of the Gorgonians, especially the fact that the Gorgonians had tails, which historians have always considered impossible, and on this basis they feel that the Gorgonians did not exist. Professor Wu said that because paleontologists and archaeologists believe that the evolutionary history of mankind can be divided into four stages: early hominids, late hominids, early homo sapiens and late homo sapiens. Of these four ancient human species, only early hominids had tails, just like the Gorgons. However, early hominids lived 3 to 2 million years ago, and it is impossible for people from that era to have survived until the time when the Qiang people migrated into the Min Mountains.
The Qiang migrated to the Min Mountains because, after the Shang dynasty destroyed the Xia dynasty more than 3,000 years ago, they persecuted the tribes that had been dependent on Xia. The Qiang, who had been living in northwestern China, were one of these tribes. The Qiang were therefore forced to migrate southwards to the upper reaches of the Minjiang River. This is well documented in history, and it is also true that the Qiang people worshiped white stones as sacred objects. Therefore, some scholars believe that the ‘Qiang-Gog War’ is not groundless. The Gog people existed, and evidence of their existence has been found in historical records and archaeological discoveries. In the historical record ‘Huayang Guozhi Shu Zhi’, there is such a record: There was Shu Hou Zancong, whose eyes were vertical, and he first lived in a stone room on Min Mountain. Scholars believe that the description of vertical eyes refers precisely to the prominent eyes of the Gorgons. In other words, the first king of ancient Shu, Zangong, was a Gorgon. With the excavation of the Sanxingdui civilization, a large number of bronze masks with prominent eyes were unearthed, also providing archaeological evidence of the existence of the Gorgons. On this basis, many people believe that the Gorgons were the ancestors of the ancient Shu people. Because the legendary Gorgons, the masks from Sanxingdui, and Zangong in the classics all have a common characteristic: prominent eyes! At the same time, the archaeological discoveries at Sanxingdui also prove that the origin of the Sanxingdui civilisation was the Min Mountains, where the Gorgans lived. This is because the orientation of Pit 1 at Sanxingdui is 45° west of north, and the orientation of Pit 2 is 55° west of north, both facing towards the Min Mountains. The large ceremonial building at Yangzi Hill in Chengdu from the same period also faces 55° west of north, also towards the Min Mountains.
‘In other words, the skeleton in front of us is that of a Geji person. Does that mean that the Qiong people were Geji people?’ Luo San asked after listening to Professor Wu’s account.
‘No, the ancestor of the Qiong people’s appearance, the tortoise spirit, has seen it and there is nothing special about it. And we also noticed the bones in the tomb just now, the nasal bone and cheekbone are not like this one.’ Professor Wu paused and continued after a moment of contemplation, ’Among the Qiong people that the ancestor has come into contact with, the only one that is suspicious is the shaman, because he has always covered most of his face. I think the covered part is the long eyes that distinguish him as a Gorgon from the Qiong people. He doesn’t want other people to see his face.‘
’In other words, the Gorgons are the remnants of a previous civilization?‘
’You could say that.‘
’In other words, if we find the Gorgons, we can uncover all the secrets.‘
’In theory, yes, but where do we find the Gorgons?’
‘The man outside, just ask him and you will know about the Gorgonians.”
It was easy to go outside. In no time at all, the group had burrowed out of the mountainside by the Anning River. The exit was a small cave on the mountainside, suspended on a sheer wall several metres high. The entrance had been specially disguised, so that from the outside there was no sign of the cave’s existence at all. The stone wall where the cave entrance was located was completely barren, with the cave opening up neither to the sky above nor the ground below, so naturally no one would discover it. Professor Wu seemed to appreciate the ingenious setting of this cave. As soon as he set foot on the ground, he kept saying, ‘This cave is really well-made. No wonder no one has discovered this place for thousands of years.’
Luo San noticed that although the four of them were still by the Anning River, they were not sure how far away they were from the ancient tomb they had just excavated, and they had already walked to the other side of the Anning River. The man they had seen earlier was already standing not far in front of them.
The man was of average height, with an old face, and seemed exhausted. After a long time, he revealed a look of both joy and sadness on his face: ‘Who are you?’
Professor Wu looked at the man in front of him, bowed, and said, ‘Descendant of the Turtle Spirit, Yin Yin Ke, I have the honour to meet you, my master. I apologize for the intrusion earlier, it was really rude.’
‘You really are the descendant of the tortoise spirit. You really are the descendant of the tortoise spirit.’ The man sat down on the ground with a thump, laughing and crying uncontrollably. After a long while, he stopped laughing and immediately burst into tears again. He laughed and cried like this for a long time. Professor Wu did not interrupt him, but just quietly watched him, his face also showing a sad expression.
At first, Luo San did not understand what had made the man go crazy, but soon he understood the man’s feelings. He knew that this man must also, like Professor Wu, have carried the burden of his family for thousands of years. Since he could remember, he had shouldered this heavy burden, which was as heavy as a mountain, for decades, and it was bound to consume the best years of his life. He was waiting hopelessly for fate to take its course. Thinking about this, Luo San looked at Shen Yuan, but saw that she was also feeling sad.
Luo San looked at Shen Yuan and knew that she must have remembered something unhappy, but he didn’t know how to comfort her. At that moment, the man’s mood had calmed down, but he didn’t stand up, and still sat on the ground in a carefree manner, saying to Professor Wu, ‘My surname is Feng, and my name is Feng Yi.’
As soon as Fengyi finished saying his name, he immediately said with emotion, ‘It’s been 3,000 years, and finally you’ve come… 3,000 years, generation after generation of people, lingering here between the mountains and rivers of this peaceful valley, waiting here, waiting for you to appear. Can you understand the pain involved? 3,000 years!’ Fengyi’s voice choked up as he said this.
‘…’ Professor Wu was silent for a long time, and after a while, he said with a sigh, ’The Tortoise Clan has also been waiting for 3,000 years. Your family may have an end, but our guardianship will never end. For 3,000 years, we have been as lonely as you, with the same heavy responsibilities. Even when we sleep, we are afraid of revealing the secrets of the clan if we talk in our sleep. We can certainly understand your pain. But today is not the time to discuss your family’s suffering. I am here to prevent the impending catastrophe in Chengdu. If possible, I hope to get everything you know.’
Feng Yi glanced at Shen Yuan, Luo San and Nan Qingyi, and hesitated. Professor Wu’s gaze swept over Shen Yuan and Luo San, paused for a moment on Nan Qingyi, and finally seemed to make up his mind: ‘Everyone here can be trusted. Can you tell me about the history of your Qiong people, and in particular how you became involved with the Eye of the Sea?’
Chapter 18 Qiongdu
It was only after a long while that Feng Yi opened his mouth.
It turned out that the real name of the Qiong people was Qiongdu, but when the Han people recorded them in their books, they simply simplified it to Qiong. ‘Qiongdu is actually a compound word, an ancient translation of our ethnic name in Chinese. It only makes sense when put together, but it makes no sense at all when taken apart,’ Feng Yi said with a bitter smile. The real meaning of Qiongdu is Loess People.
‘Loess people?’ Professor Wu asked in surprise, as this was the first time he had heard that name.
Feng Yi nodded affirmatively: ’That’s right, loess people. There has always been a legend in our tribe that we were created from loess by the shamans of the Qiongdu people.’
‘If the Loess made the people, does that mean the shaman in your tribe is God or Nuwa?’ Hearing Luo San’s question, Professor Wu gave him a disdainful look and criticized, ’Little San, don’t be so shallow. Using Loess to make people is found in the creation legends of many ethnic groups. As for Nuwa, she is only a legend from the Central Plains.’
Feng Yi, however, ignored the two and continued talking to himself: ‘According to legend, a long, long time ago, there was a great shaman with supreme magical powers who could summon the wind and rain and move mountains and seas. This great shaman came from nowhere and went to nowhere, except that he stopped halfway by the shore of Qionghai in what is now Xichang and used loess to create the first person of the Qiongdu tribe.
‘This was a woman, the first leader of the Qiongdu people. Later, the great shaman used loess to create a group of men and women, who formed the first generation of ancestors of the Qiongdu people. I am their 213th generation descendant. After creating our ancestors, the great shaman floated away and disappeared without a trace. But he left behind ten small tribes of people to teach the Qiongdu people how to live. Since then, the people of these ten small tribes have lived with the Qiongdu as their shamans.
“These shamans were highly skilled, and under their leadership, the Qiongdu people continued to expand their territory and increase their land area. At one point, their sphere of influence reached the Qionglai Mountains beside the Chengdu Plain. But here, they were blocked by the ancient Shu Kingdom on the Chengdu Plain. Facing the ancient Shu Kingdom, the Qiongdu people’s shamans not only stopped the expansion of their territory, they did not even have a single battle with the ancient Shu Kingdom, but just quietly guarded it. They waited until the end of the Shang Dynasty in your Han Chinese history books. King Wu of Zhou led the surrounding vassal states to overthrow King Zhou of Shang. In that war, the Yufu Dynasty, which was then dominant on the Chengdu Plain, sent elite troops north to the Central Plains to participate in the Battle of Muye. At this time, the Yufu Dynasty’s military power on the Chengdu Plain was greatly weakened. Under these circumstances, the shamans led the Qiongdu people to take advantage of the situation and attack the Chengdu Plain, destroying the Yufu Dynasty. The last Yufu king was killed in battle around the Zhan Mountain. Your Han history books say that the Yufu king Tian Yu Zhan Mountain ascended to immortality and left.’ Fengyi laughed when he said this, ‘These history books are really something, saying that he ascended to immortality when he died.’
Fengyi suddenly sighed and said, ‘Although we Qiongdou people won the war against the Yufu Dynasty, we were unable to establish a firm foothold on the Chengdu Plain before the Zhou people led the Yufu troops that had been sent north to attack the Chengdu Plain. The Qiongdu people were forced to retreat to the Qionglai Mountains. The Yufu army, which had returned to the Chengdu Plain, was unable to gain a foothold after the Zhou people left, and retreated from the Chengdu Plain under the challenge of the indigenous people of the Chengdu Plain. The severely weakened Qiongdu people were unable to enter the Chengdu Plain again at this time, so the entire Chengdu Plain entered a period of chaos, and no one was able to ultimately establish a great power on the plain, until the appearance of the Duyu Dynasty.
‘This seems strange now. During the establishment of the Duyu Dynasty, the people of Qionglai, especially the shamans, did not take any opposing measures. On the contrary, they seemed to cooperate with the establishment of the Duyu Dynasty and fixed their eastern sphere of influence near the Qionglai Mountains. However, towards the end of the Duyu Dynasty, the attitude of the shamans completely changed. Not only did they actively send troops to seize the land of the Duyu Dynasty, but when there was a major flood on the Chengdu Plain, some of the shamans led a group of people to Leshan, where they reached an agreement with the Beiling people living there, helping the Beiling people to gain power and establish the Kai Ming Dynasty. The Qiongdu people then began to withdraw from the Chengdu Plain.
‘After that, as the surrounding ethnic groups grew in power, especially after the Qin and Han dynasties, the power of the Central Plains moved south, and Qiongdu gradually retreated to the Xichang area. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang usurped power and established the Xin Dynasty. He implemented discriminatory policies against the surrounding ethnic minorities, demoting the Qiongdu king to the title of Qiongdu marquis. As a result, the last Qiongdu king, Ren Gui, rebelled, and the people of Qiongdu suffered a catastrophe. After the war, only the elderly and children were left in the tribe, and there was only one shaman left, who was seriously injured.
The shaman chose a young Qiongdu man and passed on all his knowledge and scriptures to him, asking him to swear an oath to protect the secrets of the Qiongdu people for generations and to wait for the arrival of the Beiling people, to tell them the secrets of the Sea Eye and to guard it with them. This young man was my ancestor.
After the shaman had explained everything, he built the last large stone tomb above the entrance to a cave that they regarded as sacred. This tomb is the one you just entered. Then he entered the cave and sat waiting for death. Many of the Qiongdu people also followed him into the tomb and killed themselves. Some of the younger ones who were left scattered, and the Qiongdu people disappeared from history.
After listening to Feng Yi’s story, everyone had a basic understanding of the history of the Qiongdu people, but there were still many things they didn’t understand. Luo San’s biggest question mark was, what was the purpose of the mysterious sorcerers’ alliance with the Qiongdu people, who were probably in the most primitive state at the time? Was it just to help the Qiongdu people expand their territory? Why did they keep trying to enter the Chengdu Plain at first, but then give up on that plan later? Was it just for the Sea Eye, or was there another purpose?
‘Are these shamans with you for the sake of the Sea Eye?‘ This question was preemptively asked by Professor Wu.
’Not exactly,’ Fengyi continued, carefully driving while talking, ’According to the ancestors, the shamans of the tribe were related to the Sea Eye. At the beginning of the founding of the Kai Ming Dynasty, the shamans set up ten boulders on the Chengdu Plain to guard the Sea Eye town stone, and sent people to Chengdu from time to time to see the situation of the ten boulders. However, after the Qin people entered Chengdu more than ten years later, the shamans no longer entered Chengdu regularly.”
Feng Yi paused after saying this, and no one interrupted, waiting silently for him to continue. Sure enough, Feng Yi continued, ’In the era when the Qiongdu people were not at war, the Qiongdu shamans began to move around and search extensively within the territory controlled by the Qiongdu people. They searched for underground caves. After a long period of searching, they finally found an underground cave in the Anning River Valley. I think you should have already been inside, otherwise you wouldn’t have come out from the other side of the river after entering the tomb chamber.”
Luo San and the others nodded. Feng Yi continued, ’As you can see, apart from the central stone pillar, there seems to be nothing special about that cave, and half of it is usually submerged in water, but the clan’s shamans attach great importance to it. They used the central pillar to build a three-tiered altar, and when the water in the cave receded, they levelled the cave floor and carved a large number of grottoes into the four walls of the cave. After completing this work, some shamans lived in the cave during the week, while a small number of clan members took turns to contact the Qiongdu people from the outside world. And after their deaths, those grottoes became the final resting place for the shamans. However, most of the shamans continued to travel around, continuing to search for underground caves, and gradually left the Qiongdu people. In the end, the number of shamans was very small, which led to the Qiongdu people’s defeat in the final battle against the Wang Mang Xin Dynasty.”
After saying this, Feng Yi paused again, and after a long while, he said, ’I have never been able to figure this out. It seems that although the sea eye was important in their eyes, it was far less important than underground caves, which is why they kept searching for them.’
‘That’s because they may have originally lived in underground caves, but for some reason they moved out at a later date. However, they have always longed to go back or find similar underground caves to live in,’ said Professor Wu. ’I think that underground cave must be regarded as their promised land, so no matter how they migrated, the surface of the earth was not their promised land. Because of this, they handed the important task of protecting the sea eye to other ethnic groups.’
‘How do you know?‘ Feng asked in surprise. Professor Wu then introduced Feng to the rock paintings he had seen on the cave ceiling.
Feng was silent after hearing this.
’There is one thing I’ve always been curious about,’ Professor Wu said after a while, picking up the conversation again. ’Historians think that you seem to have been constantly building dolmen, even during the war when large numbers of people died. What was the point of this? How did you have so many people to build these tombs?’
‘The reason for building megalithic tombs is that we are made of loess, and after death, we need to be protected by megalithic tombs to prevent our bones from being soaked by rain and becoming lost.’
‘…‘ Hearing such an explanation, Luo San, Shen Yuan, and Nan Qingyi were speechless for a while. It was Professor Wu who explained that for the ancients, death was as important as life, if not more so. Therefore, the Qiongdu people, who believed that they were made of loess, used large stone tombs to welcome death.
However, Luo San still couldn’t understand: “Why do you believe that you are made of loess?”
’We were originally made of loess, so there is nothing to believe.’ Feng Yi looked displeased.
Professor Wu hurriedly said to Luo San, ‘This is very normal. Primitive ancestors usually choose an animal, plant or even an inanimate object as their ancestor and worship it as a totem. For example, the ancient Yue people used birds and snakes as totems, the Dongyi tribe used birds as totems, the Shang tribe used swallows as totems, and some ethnic minorities in the southwest used bamboo as totems, believing that their ancestors were born from a bamboo shoot. There are also those who use gourds as ancestors.’
Luo San looked at Feng Yiyi, who was still frowning, and asked Professor Wu carefully, ‘Although you think I’m ignorant, I still want to ask: their legends are so similar to the creation of humans by Nüwa, so are they related to the legend of Nüwa creating humans?’
‘Shit…‘ Before Professor Wu could finish his sentence, Feng Yi interrupted, “Are you talking about the legendary Nuwa who kneaded loess to create humans? I have also researched this legend and it is indeed very similar to the legend of our people, but I don’t know if there is a connection.”
’No,’ Professor Wu categorically denied, ’Nuwa’s hometown is generally believed to be in the Shandong and Henan area, and there is no way it could be connected to Xichang in the far southwest.’
‘Could it be that the Nuwa people migrated to Sichuan and brought this legend with them, thus…‘ Luo San glanced at Feng Yi and didn’t continue.
’This is unlikely. The Central Plains peoples recorded in historical texts, with the exception of a few minorities such as the Miao and Li, rarely migrated south, and the Xichang area has no connection with these two peoples. Therefore, your theory of migration cannot be established.’ Professor Wu concluded, ‘Xiaowenzi, you don’t need to bother with the Nuwa thing anymore. Feng Laoge and the rest of the Qiongdou people should be local people, and the shaman in your tribe should be a Gorgon.’
‘Gorgon? What’s that?’ Feng Yi had never heard of the name Gorgon.
Professor Wu did not directly answer his question, but instead asked, ‘The shaman in your tribe should look really strange, right?’
‘How do you know?‘ Fengyi nodded and said, “The shamans of our Qiongdu tribe definitely look strange. Not only do they not look like locals, but if they were drawn based on the descriptions of our ancestors, they wouldn’t even look Chinese.”
’What? Not Chinese? What do they look like?’ Luo San asked in surprise, but quickly recovered, “They look like Gorgons.” Professor Wu shook his head wordlessly and said, ’Xiaosan, your reaction is not really slow.’
‘Look! These shamans look like this.’ Fengyi took an old sheepskin out of his bosom and handed it to Professor Wu. Shen Yuan and Luo San leaned over to take a look. They saw a portrait drawn on the sheepskin. The person in the portrait really looked like the one on the rock painting on the cave ceiling: bulging eyes, high cheekbones, high shoulders, and a clearly defined face. It really was a Gorgon!
Professor Wu then told Fengyi all about the Gorgon people. When Fengyi heard that the clan’s shamans might be remnants of a previous civilization, he suddenly understood: ‘No wonder they’re so powerful, it turns out they mastered advanced civilization.’
‘Brother Feng,’ Professor Wu seemed to have thought of something, and shouted at Fengyi, but then suddenly stopped and looked at Fengyi, ‘Your surname is Feng?’
“Nonsense. My name is Fengyi, not Feng, so what if my surname is Yi?’
‘Hey, I’m sorry. I suddenly remembered something and my head can’t wrap around it.’ Professor Wu smiled awkwardly, “Brother Feng, have you always had the surname Feng?”
Upon hearing this question, Luo San thought Feng Yi would be even more angry, but Feng Yi’s response was unexpected. Feng Yi said solemnly, ’The people of Qiongdu originally didn’t have surnames, but later, following the clan’s shamans, they all took the surname Feng…’
‘You mean all the shamans had the surname Feng?‘
’Yes, all of them.‘
’Xiaosan, it seems you may be right,‘ said Professor Wu, leaving Luo San and the other three confused.
’What do you mean?’ Luo San asked.
‘Legend has it that Nuwa was the leader of a tribe with the surname Feng. Since all the Qiongdu witches have the surname Feng, it is possible that they are from the Nuwa tribe or a tribe subordinate to the Nuwa tribe. I just can’t figure out why the Nuwa tribe would have moved to Sichuan…’
‘Wait. Let me think about it.’ Luo San interrupted Professor Wu, and after organising his thoughts, said, ’In other words, the Qiongdu shamans were Nüwa people, remnants of a previous civilisation. They migrated from the Central Plains to Sichuan and helped the Qiongdu people expand their influence. At the same time, these shamans were the legendary first king of ancient Shu, Zangong, and the Gekai people recorded in the Qiang people’s history books?’
‘Yes,‘ Professor Wu nodded, “from a speculative point of view, this is fine. But for empirical evidence, more archaeological proof may be needed.”
’The question is, what does all this have to do with the Eye of the Sea?‘ Nan Qingyi impatiently interrupted them, “We’re not here to do archaeology, our goal is to find a way to protect the Eye of the Sea.”
’Well, that’s true,’ Professor Wu said apologetically to Feng Yi, ’Brother Feng, what is the secret of the Eye of the Sea?’
‘I don’t know either,‘ Fengyi replied simply.
’Damn you, didn’t the shamans tell your people to wait for the arrival of our Turtle Spirit Clan? If you don’t know the secret of the Eye of the Sea, then why are you waiting for us?‘
’Has Shao City in Chengdu disappeared?‘ Fengyi suddenly asked without any sense of direction.
’Shao City?’ Professor Wu was taken aback by Fengyi’s question and quickly responded, ’Shao City is still there, but the city walls have long since disappeared.’
‘That’s right. Since the city no longer exists, it’s time for you to come to me.‘
’Wait, can you please speak more clearly?’ Professor Wu suddenly realised that he couldn’t understand Fengyi’s words.
Fengyi still did not give Professor Wu a direct answer, but instead asked, ‘Do you know the legend of Zhang Yi building the city?’
‘Of course I do.’ Naturally, such a historical question was no problem for Professor Wu, and he immediately replied, ‘Historical records state that after the Qin people destroyed the Shu Kingdom in 316 BC, they sent Zhang Yi to Chengdu in 311 BC to build Chengdu City to prevent Shu people from rebelling. From the records we have today, we don’t know whether Chengdu had a city wall like those in the northern cities during the Kai Ming dynasty. We only know that when Zhang Yi built the city wall, every time he built a section of it, the wall would collapse. This happened again and again, and in the end Zhang Yi was at his wits’ end. At that moment, a huge turtle emerged from the river and crawled around Chengdu before returning to the river. The people at the time were superstitious, and when the city walls kept collapsing, they thought it must be an unusual event or a sign from the gods. So Zhang Yi consulted a shaman, who told him that if he wanted to build a city wall in Chengdu, he had to follow the tracks of the turtle, otherwise the city wall would never be built. So Zhang Yi built a city wall along the tracks. For this reason, Chengdu is also known as Turtle City or Turtle-shaped City.
‘You’re right. Do you know who the sorcerer was?‘
’Who? Could it be that the sorcerer was the sorcerer of your Qiongdu tribe?‘
’Yes,’ Feng Yidian nodded, ’it is said that when Zhang Yi was building the city walls, several of the ten stone pillars in Chengdu had already been damaged, so the sorcerers came up with this method to protect the sea eye. As long as the Chengdu city walls exist, the sea eye will be safe. However, once the city walls are destroyed, the sea eye will inevitably flood within a century. In order to ensure the existence of the Chengdu city walls, the shamans also told Zhang Yi that he must ensure that the location of Chengdu remains unchanged and that the city’s name remains the same. It is said that this requirement was conveyed by Zhang Yi to the King of Qin, and later became known to emperors of successive dynasties as a secret imperial text. It is precisely because of this that Chengdu has been able to maintain its location and name unchanged for more than 2,300 years since its founding.
‘No wonder Chengdu has maintained the same city layout surrounded by two rivers. That’s the reason,‘ said Professor Wu, suddenly alarmed. “The city walls of Chengdu’s Shaocheng were gradually demolished after the Republic of China was established, and it has been more than 90 years since then. It will soon be a hundred years. In that case, the flooding of the sea eye will be something that will happen very soon. Flooding of the sea eye? Isn’t that an earthquake?”
’What earthquake?’ Fengyi asked, puzzled.
Professor Wu then told Fengyi about their previous speculation that an earthquake was imminent in Chengdu, based on the omen of the giant turtle.
After listening, Fengyi shook his head: ‘The words passed down by our ancestors only said that after the power of the protective stone array of the Haiyan Town Stone was weakened, the Haiyan would flood, not only would Chengdu become a country of lakes, but the whole world would be submerged in floods.’
“Could it be that we have speculated incorrectly? But the Diexi earthquake did occur when the Haiyan Town Stone was damaged. If it is a coincidence, it is too coincidental.‘ Professor Wu muttered to himself, and suddenly slapped his thigh, “We were right in our speculation, it must be so. With the protection of the stone circle, the destruction of the sea-eye town stone will not cause the sea-eye to flood, it will only cause an earthquake. However, once the stone circle is damaged, and the sea-eye town stone is destroyed again, it will cause both an earthquake and the sea-eye to flood.”
’Professor Wu, why do you think the people of the previous civilization left these things behind to cause us trouble?’
‘Who knows. Now that the stone array has been completely destroyed, it’s time to figure out how to remedy the situation.‘
At this point, Nan Qingyi suddenly interrupted and asked, “You’ve been talking about the Haiyan Town Stone. What is this Haiyan Town Stone?”
’The Haiyan Town Stone is a stone in the women’s bathroom of the Sijiao. In 1933, when the Sijiao was being built, this stone was damaged, which triggered the Diexi earthquake that day…’
‘Right, Brother Feng, what else did your ancestors leave behind?‘ Professor Wu suddenly interrupted Luo San.
’Yes,‘ Feng nodded, “the clan shaman left my ancestors here to wait for you, but did not explain any more secrets of the sea eye. He only said that once you came, he would take you to Diexi.”
’Diexi! I should have thought of this place earlier,’ Professor Wu suddenly realised.
Chapter 19: The Tomb of the Silkworm Clan
Diexi is located in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Mao County, the largest Qiang ethnic minority settlement in China, at the foot of the Min Mountains in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River. Diexi City was an important ancient border town. It controlled the plains of western Sichuan and was a key transport hub connecting Songpan’s arid land with Qinghai and Gansu. It was heavily guarded throughout the ages. According to the Maozhou Zhi (Maozhou Records), Zhenling County was established here in the sixth year of the Yuan Dian period of the Han Dynasty (111 BC). In the early Tang Dynasty, it was known as Jizhou, and in the Ming Dynasty it was known as Diexi Qianhu Suo. In the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed Wei, and in the Republic of China it was under the jurisdiction of Maoxian County. Diexi City was built during the Zhenguan period. In the eleventh year of the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial envoy Ding Yu went to recover the old land and ordered the commander Tong Sheng to rebuild it. It was one zhang high, with a circumference of 300-odd zhang and four gates. It was repaired during the Chenghua period. During the Republic of China, Diexi was under the jurisdiction of Mao County’s Diexi District, and the city was quite prosperous with merchants gathering there. At 15:50:30 on 25 August 1933, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck Diexi. The central part of Diexi collapsed almost vertically within a few minutes of the earthquake, and the single-step-like earthquake slide reached a distance of 500-600 metres. Diexi City and the 21 nearby Qiang villages were completely destroyed. The surrounding peaks collapsed; they blocked the Minjiang River; and 11 dammed lakes were formed. The death toll was close to 10,000. This is the famous ‘China Diexi Earthquake’ in history. After the earthquake, Diexi County disappeared, and Diexi Haizi appeared.
Luo San felt the need to go to Diexi because the earthquake that occurred here was inextricably linked to the sea-eye stone in the women’s toilet in the Sijiao. Professor Wu, on the other hand, told him to go to Diexi for a more direct reason. Dianxi was formerly known as Zaling, and legend has it that it is the tomb of Zangong, the first king of ancient Shu. After it was established that Zangong and the Qiongdui shaman belonged to the same tribe, it was naturally impossible not to go to Zangong’s tomb in Dianxi to find the secret of the sea eye. Although this place has also been submerged forever, it is still necessary to visit it by all means.
Nan Qingyi was very efficient and quickly found vehicles and a large amount of diving equipment, as well as a large quantity of weapons. So the convoy set off in a great procession.
“I previously speculated that the Qiongdu people’s shaman tribe, also known as the Shifeng, originally lived in underground caves, and that they lived in an underground cave with the lower part immersed in seawater, with almost no land. But they later left the underground cave. Judging from the fact that they later searched for underground caves in various places, their departure must have been forced. What forced them to leave, in my opinion, was the rising water level in the cave. The water level in the cave in the rock painting is very low, but when you enter the underground ocean, the entire cave is filled with water. So they began to migrate, first in Diexi, but they encountered the Qiang people and moved to the Chengdu Plain, where they founded the Sanxingdui civilization. I just don’t know why the ancient Sanxingdui kingdom also collapsed later, and they had to be displaced again and scattered to all directions in search of underground caves. But in the process, they did not forget to protect the sea eye…’ Professor Wu said in a squeaky voice all the way.
Luo San didn’t listen carefully to the rest of the words because he was thinking about what the Qiongdu tribe’s shaman would leave them visitors in Diexi, but he was too tired. In a daze, he fell asleep as the car swayed.
Transportation from Xichang to Mao County is not convenient, so after a day, they have only travelled about half of the way. Seeing that the sky is darkening, Feng Yi parks the car on the side of the road and finds a clean place to rest for the night. Nan Qingyi is well prepared, and the car is fully equipped with dry food, water, tents, and more.
After dinner, Luo San lay down in his tent, his eyes slightly closed, listening to the chirping of insects and birds outside the tent. The events of the past few days flashed before Luo San’s eyes. There had been so many things that had happened in the past few days, so many that Luo San had been completely overwhelmed. The Professor, whom he had always regarded as a poor old man, was actually the descendant of the Enlightened King, and Shen Yuan, whom he had long secretly loved, was also from the ancient Feiye Sect. Then what else is impossible around him? How many secrets among them does he not know? Which of his acquaintances will get involved in the Eye of the Sea next? Luo can’t bear to think about it.
Luo San shook his head as if that would make the unhappy things in his head go away and start thinking about happy things. A pretty face appeared in his mind, sometimes smiling, sometimes cold and elegant, sometimes sad, sometimes staring at him with caring eyes, sometimes looking at him anxiously. Thinking of Shen Yuan, a smile appeared on Luo San’s face. Luo San liked spending time with Shen Yuan, listening to her talk, and watching her every move. Whether it was the cold and aloof Shen Yuan, or the tender Shen Yuan who was always concerned about him like an older sister, Luo San was attracted to both. Luo San himself could not understand why every time he saw Shen Yuan, he always had an urge to protect her, even though Shen Yuan never seemed to want his protection. Instead, every time there was danger, she was always in front of him, blocking the danger. But every time Luo San went on an adventure with Shen Yuan, he would always try his best to protect her. It seemed that deep down inside, he was always worried that if he didn’t protect Shen Yuan in time, he would lose her forever.
He heard Shen Yuan’s sighing voice in the distance, and Luo San suddenly opened his eyes wide, listening carefully, afraid that he had heard it wrong. But then he heard footsteps outside the tent, followed by the lifting of the tent curtain by a pale hand. Outside the tent, Shen Yuan bent down, poking her head in and saying, ‘Xiao Sanzi, you’re still awake, aren’t you? Come for a walk with me.’ ‘Okay,’ Luo San agreed without a second’s thought, and immediately stepped out of the tent.
It was already dark outside the tent. The red-faced sun was only half visible in the sky, as if it were reluctant to go down. The flaming clouds in the sky were painted in colourful hues, as beautiful as a painting. On the other side of the sky, a pale moon had already risen, silently watching the night army gradually take over the entire sky. The air was filled with the fresh scent of earth and wild grass. Not far away, the babbling of a stream could be heard, mingling with the croaking of frogs and the chirping of insects in the fields, adding to the tranquility of the valley in the mountains.
Luo San and Shen Yuan walked side by side and arrived at the stream. Standing on the bank of the stream, the two of them were silent. After a long while, Shen Yuan said, ‘If it could always be like this, it would be wonderful.’
Luo San was momentarily stunned, but immediately understood what Shen Yuan meant, and replied, ‘Away from intrigue, away from the world, away from hatred, in this ethereal place like Zen, indifferent like Taoism, and picturesque like a painting, without having to be oppressed by the weight of the nation’s millennia-old responsibilities, without having to be constrained by the decades-long curse of the family, this is indeed the most wonderful thing.’
‘No longer bound by the decades-old curse of the family. Xiaosan, you’ve said it so well.’ Shen Yuan turned her face to look at Luo San, her eyes shining with a strange light, but she quickly regained her composure and said quietly, ’But is it possible?’
‘Of course it’s possible!’ Looking at Shen Yuan’s despondent expression, Luo San’s heart inexplicably ached, and without thinking, he answered, “I believe that it won’t be long before we solve the problem of the sea eye and can remove the restrictions of the blood-sucking curse on you.”
Luo San’s comfort did not seem to bring Shen Yuan any consolation, and from her clear, bright eyes, Luo San saw a deep sorrow in her eyes, and the last rays of the setting sun reflected on her face, giving people a sense of sadness. She gave a forced smile and said to Luo San, ‘Xiaosan, what would you do if one day we became enemies?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, how could that be possible?’ Luo San said nonchalantly.
‘I’m just saying what if.’
“There is no if in this matter.’
The sky had completely darkened, and a solitary icy moon hung in the sky, its cold light pouring down between the heavens and the earth like water, onto the nameless stream in the western valley. The stream sparkled with silver light, murmuring and resounding, and pouring over the girl, whose long hair blew in the mountain wind. The girl was tall and graceful, silently sad, and looked at the boy in front of her and said, ‘Xiaosan, don’t be so serious, I was just asking casually.’
‘There have been so many accidents these days, I’m afraid I can’t take the shock. It would be terrible if we became enemies.‘
Shen Yuan looked at Luo San for a long time before saying, “Forget it, let’s not talk about it anymore. Xiao Sanzi, the main reason I asked you out today is actually to ask you a favour.”
’What is it?’ As soon as Luo San heard Shen Yuan’s words, he immediately gathered his thoughts and said with a serious expression.
Shen Yuan turned her head and looked at the river sparkling in the moonlight, her back turned to Luo San, and said, ‘Xiaosan, we’ll be arriving in Diexi tomorrow, and I don’t know what difficulties we’ll encounter. Maybe I’ll die at any time…’
‘You definitely won’t…’
‘Don’t interrupt me,’ Shen Yuan interrupted Luo San without turning her head, and continued, ‘Xiaosan, listen carefully. I’m asking you a favour. If I die and you don’t, that’ll be your good fortune. In that case, after I die, please cremate me and bury me beside the rare mountain stream in this deep mountain valley. You can engrave the tombstone like this,’ Shen Yuan paused for several seconds before saying each word clearly, ’Tomb of Shen Yuan of the Xiao Men Clan.’
Luo San heard Shen Yuan’s words clearly, especially when Shen Yuan said the last sentence. Every word was like a knife slashing his heart. Although it hurt, Luo San nodded to show his agreement.
‘Xiaosan, you’re not going to help?’ Shen Yuan asked again.
Luo San was taken aback and realised that he had only nodded without saying anything, and Shen Yuan had asked the question because his back was turned and he could not see his movements. So he quickly spoke up, ‘If this really happens, I will definitely do as you ask.’
“Xiaosan, you are a good person. Thank you,’ Shen Yuan said in a calm tone, ‘I’ll go back first, and you should get some rest too, as you have to set off early tomorrow morning.’ Shen Yuan said, and walked past Luo San with her head down, without looking at him again.
Looking at Shen Yuan’s back, Luo San suddenly fell into a state of suspended thought. He didn’t know what had happened that would make Shen Yuan suddenly find him out of the blue to say these words, but his intuition told him that it should be related to what happened in the underground ocean.
What exactly happened in that ocean? Luo San pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, took a long drag, then crouched down and stared at the stream. He didn’t know how long it took, but eventually the cigarette case was empty. Luo San looked at the cigarette butts on the ground, stood up, stamped his numb feet, and staggered towards the tent. That night, Luo San didn’t know how he finally fell asleep, and when he woke up in the morning, his head was dizzy.
The car was driving on a winding mountain road, as if walking in the clouds. Looking up, there were mountains; looking down, there were rivers between the mountains. In between, there were iron cables crossing the rivers, ancient market temples, and Qiang village watchtowers passing by the car window flashed past on either side of the window. Professor Wu watched the scenery outside the window with great interest, occasionally exclaiming in admiration; Luo San absent-mindedly looked out the window, occasionally agreeing with Professor Wu; Shen Yuan, with an expression of ice on his face, looked out the window and remained silent the whole way.
‘We’ll be there after we pass this mountain pass,’ Fengyi said to the group after stopping to inquire for a while. Sure enough, after the car passed a mountain pass, everyone saw the four characters written on the sign by the roadside: Diexi Ancient Town.
The air was tinged with the coolness of water. Luo San noticed that the place where he was standing was a hillock, and at the foot of the hill was Diexi Haizi. The emerald green lake, more than ten kilometres long, was nestled in the green and black valley, as tranquil as a virgin, as calm as a mirror, without any ripples or waves. If he had not known its history beforehand, Luo San would never have imagined that beneath this beautiful lake lay an ancient city that had swallowed up more than 10,000 human lives. Gazing into the distance, Luo San felt as if he could see the afternoon of 25 August 1933. Without warning, the ground began to shake violently. The originally flat ground cracked during the shaking, like a river during the spring thaw. In an instant, the fields and villages lost their previous appearance. The towering peaks sank as if they had been stripped of their underlying support, while the low-lying ground suddenly lifted. Within the few short minutes when the earth shook violently, the ancient town of Diexi suddenly sank. The people who had lived here for a long time simply did not have time to run, and they sank into the ground along with their homes, which they had lived in for thousands of years. Desperately, they looked up at the sky, which was receding instantly, while the roar of the underground ocean came to their ears. The surging floodwaters flooded Diexi and everything in its path. When all was silent, the once prosperous Diexi Town had completely disappeared from the map, leaving only some remnants on the ground and the indistinct ruins of the town submerged at the bottom of the sea that had formed on its original foundations.
No one was interested in searching for anything on the shore, because everyone understood that the secret about the sea eye left by the Qiongdu tribe shaman must be in the sunken Diexi town in the sea, or even in the underground ocean beneath the town. Standing by the sea, the group discussed for a while and finally decided to enter the sea immediately as it was still early.
After discussion, 10 people, including Nan Qingyi, Professor Wu, Feng Yi, Shen Yuan, Luo San and Nan Yi, entered the water, while the others waited on the shore. Nan Qingyi is very powerful and since learning that they would be entering Diexi Sea, he had arranged for people to purchase underwater equipment. It was all in place by now.
‘This is a wireless underwater communication system, which we can use to communicate underwater. This is an underwater thruster, which allows us to move quickly underwater, saving a lot of physical strength. This is an underwater surveillance instrument, which allows us to see within a certain range in the dark underwater. This is an underwater pistol, which we can use in case of danger. This is a diving suit…’ Nan Yi introduced them one by one.
Among the group, Feng Yi and Professor Wu had extraordinary underwater skills due to their family’s millennial heritage, and Shen Yuan had also been forced by her father to master almost all the martial arts since she was young because of the Leaf Blades Sect’s curse. Luo San, on the other hand, had never had any professional training before, but now found that he was actually more at ease underwater than on land. As for Nan Qingyi, Nan Yi, and the others, they were already familiar with diving.
So, after everyone had dressed and equipped themselves with all kinds of underwater equipment, they immediately began to prepare to dive into the water.
When he reached Luo San, Shen Yuan said to him as usual, ‘Be careful, protect yourself, and don’t forget what you promised me.’ Luo San felt a pang of sadness in his heart and nodded, ‘I will. You must be careful yourself, I don’t want to have to put up a tombstone for you.’ With that, he entered the water.
Although it was midsummer, the water in the sea at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres in the Min Mountains was bone-chillingly cold. The ground at the bottom of the lake was not only very steep, but also covered in silt. Luo San walked with long, uneven steps, stirring up the silt that had accumulated over the years. The silt floated up and filled the water in front of him, blurring his vision. Fortunately, Shen Yuan’s figure was not far away, which gave him a sigh of relief. However, just as Luo San let his guard down, Shen Yuan’s figure suddenly disappeared from his sight. ‘Shen Yuan!’ Luo San called anxiously, ignoring the slippery ground, and quickly rushed forward. He took a few steps, but then his foot fell through, and he immediately fell. Due to the buoyancy of the water, Luo San’s fall was not very fast, although it was not very graceful. Luo San saw Shen Yuan not far away. At this time, she had already adjusted her body into a head-first position and was slowly falling downward. Luo San couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, and he also wanted to adjust his body, but after flailing his arms and legs for a long time, he was still head-first, and the whole person’s descent speed had increased a lot. In no time, he had fallen in front of Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan saw Luo San fall head-first and had to reach out a hand to push him a little, putting Luo San back in a head-up position.
Luo San nodded in thanks, but when he saw that Shen Yuan had already turned his head to look elsewhere, he had to look down at his feet with a sad expression. The ground was not far below his feet, and what caught his eye was a scene of ruins, collapsed walls, rolling rocks, and even some utensils for living and production, scattered among them, all covered with a thick layer of silt. Streaks of scaly white fish passed through his eyes, hastily avoiding him when they saw someone coming. These fish are indeed the same as the ones Luo San saw in the bottomless ocean under the Four Teachings.
As soon as he set foot on the ground, a layer of silt immediately rose in front of his eyes, making it difficult to see. Luo San tried hard to look, and saw that the bottom of this sea was in a mess.
‘How can we find clues when it’s in such a mess?’ Luo San was thinking, but then he saw Feng Yi and Nan Qingyi and the others also arrive at the bottom of the lake. Looking at the scene in front of them, they all frowned.
Professor Wu glanced at the scene before him and said to the group over the walkie-talkie in a calm voice, ‘Diexi used to be the place where the Zuozhi Qiang, a branch of the Qiang people, lived. The Qiang and the Gekis were mortal enemies, so I don’t think there will be any clues to the Gekis here. From the clues we have so far, there must be an entrance underground in Diexi that connects to the underground caves where the Gekis lived. Now all we need to do is find this entrance and go from here to the underground caves.’
Diexi Ancient Town is not a large town, but it is not easy to find this hidden entrance from thousands of years ago in this dark place under the water where silt is constantly being raised, especially since there is no written record to show that this entrance has not been discovered by the Qiang people over thousands of years. This is enough to show that the Gorgons had already sealed this entrance when they fled in defeat in a major battle with the Qiang people. It is not easy to find such a place.
Luo San walked aimlessly at the bottom of the sea, with the floating mud in front of him. Looking around, he saw skeletons pressed between the broken walls. They either maintained the posture of running, or they had fallen to the ground without having time to run. As he walked, Luo San seemed to see the tragedy of that year. In his ears came the loud noise of the sky and earth collapsing, and the cries of panic and disorientation. In a trance, the ground beneath his feet shook violently, and in the vibration of the huge crack, the earth split open. Luo San’s feet fell through, and he plunged headlong into the crack. Seeing that the entire person was about to fall into the bottomless abyss, a soft but powerful hand reached out, grabbed his wrist tightly, and with a forceful pull, dragged him up.
‘You saved my life again, thank you,’ Luo San said to Shen Yuan in a dazed state. Suddenly, he noticed a problem, ’Where is the water at the bottom of the lake? No, why aren’t we at the bottom of the lake?’
In front of him was a narrow street with a row of bungalows on each side, operating various shops. Due to the shaking of the earth, the street was full of people running in all directions. The earth shook violently and made a loud noise, the wind and sand rolled in, the ground cracked open everywhere, opening and closing suddenly. In his ears were the cries for help of the people and the crowing of chickens and dogs.
‘This is not the time to talk about this, just watch your step.’ The earth continued to shake violently, cracking into pieces in the shaking, with deep and unfathomable ravines criss-crossing the surface. Faced with this situation, even Shen Yuan was terrified, and she grabbed Luo San’s hand tighter and tighter. Luo San felt the unease in the hand of his owner, so he slightly tightened his grip on Shen Yuan’s hand. Shen Yuan suddenly looked back and glanced at Luo San and said, ’Stay close to me.’
Shen Yuan was in front, Luo San was behind. As the earth shook, the two swayed and stumbled from one ravine to the next, trying to find a wider place. In front of them were people running in panic, and from time to time someone would fall into the ravine. Suddenly a huge rock appeared in a ravine. The rock was square and seemed unnatural. Luo San felt unusual at first sight, but at this time he was not allowed to take a closer look because the ground beneath their feet was shaking even more violently. It seemed that an even more intense earthquake was coming. The violent shaking made it impossible for the two of them to stand upright, so they had to lie on the ground. After waiting until the violent shaking had subsided, the two men stood up in a daze and saw that they were standing on a piece of ground just big enough for them, surrounded by gullies nearly a meter or two wide, which were still widening.
‘We have to jump to the other side immediately,’ Shen Yuan said to Luo San, looking at a larger open space on the other side.
‘Okay!’ Luo San nodded, but looking at the gullies in front of him, he didn’t have a clue what to do.
Shen Yuan felt the same way, but she knew that if they didn’t try, the two of them would be trapped up here, which was not what she wanted.
‘Follow me, I’ll count to three, and we’ll jump together.’
‘Okay.’
“One, two, three, jump.’ As soon as Shen Yuan said ‘jump’, Luo San immediately jumped forward, barely managing to put the tips of his feet on the edge of the land on the other side. In an instant, his entire body lost its balance and he fell backwards. In a panic, Luo San quickly let go of Shen Yuan’s right hand, which was tightly clasped, but found that his hand was still being held tightly by Shen Yuan’s left hand, pushing him forward with great force, while Shen Yuan’s other hand pushed him under his back.
‘No good,‘ Luo San suddenly realised what Shen Yuan was trying to do. He immediately clenched his right hand, which had already been released, just as he caught Shen Yuan’s hand, which was about to let go. His right hand immediately sank, and the whole person fell backwards and fell into the ravine. In a hurry, Luo San reached out with his left hand and clung tightly to the edge of the ravine above his head.
’Xiaosan, let go,’ Shen Yuan yelled at Luo San.
‘You know I won’t,‘ Luo San said, while he struggled to hold on to the edge of the ravine, and increased the strength of his right hand.
’Xiaosanzi, please let go, there’s no need for this,‘ Shen Yuan’s tone had turned to pleading.
’I won’t let go,‘ Luo San smiled indifferently, but his face quickly changed as Shen Yuan’s hand slowly began to slip from his grasp.
’No,’ Luo San suddenly felt a moment of confusion.
‘Ow!’ A howl came from Luo San’s mouth. Vaguely, Luo San seemed to hear a voice saying, “A Yuan, I will never let anything happen to you.” Immediately afterwards, he noticed that the earth had returned to its calm state, and even the split in the ground had healed, as if nothing had happened. They were still at the bottom of the lake, and Wind One, Professor Wu, Nan Qingyi, and the others were standing nearby, looking over in confusion.
‘What happened?‘ Luo San was about to ask Shen Yuan, but heard Shen Yuan let out a cry, covering his left arm with one hand, his face contorted with pain.
’What’s wrong! Did it hurt you?’ Luo San crouched down and gently took Shen Yuan’s hand, ’I don’t know where the strength came from just now, I suddenly threw you up, but I didn’t expect to hurt you.’
‘It’s nothing, it’s probably dislocated,’ Shen Yuan whispered as she lowered her head.
After a while, Shen Yuan sighed and looked up, seeing that Professor Wu had already walked up to her. She immediately said indifferently, ’Can you set bones? My hand may be dislocated.’
Chapter 20 Underground Cave
Everyone was curious about the sudden earthquake that had just come and gone, and they started discussing it after Professor Wu had fixed Shen Yuan’s dislocated left hand.
‘What just happened? The earthquake suddenly happened and then suddenly disappeared, as if it had never happened at all,’ Nan Qingyi asked.
Luo San looked around again. The bottom of the sea was still calm, just as it had been when they first arrived, as if the earthquake had only been a dream for the ten of them. What on earth was going on?
Professor Wu already had an answer at this point: it turned out that there had been no earthquake just now. It was just that the earthquake that occurred back then had caused tremendous damage, killing thousands of people. The residual brainwaves of the people who died formed a powerful mental force that had not dispersed for thousands of years. Whenever someone from the outside entered here, it caused the earthquake to happen again. It is thought that it was because the people entered the bottom of this sea and triggered that mental force that the earthquake was recreated here.
‘Are you saying that what just happened was like watching a movie?‘ Feng asked.
’Not exactly,’ Professor Wu shook his head and said, ’watching a movie only lets you see the scenes and hear the sounds, but just now, in this special environment, we felt the real situation of the earthquake. In other words, in this environment, the 1933 earthquake has happened again. Although the outside world cannot feel it, if those of us inside cannot escape, we will definitely die.’ Professor Wu paused for a moment, and then continued, ‘If Xiao Sanzi hadn’t screamed just now, I’m afraid we would have been buried underground in this ancient town, just like the Zuozhi Qiang people from decades ago. Xiao Sanzi is our saviour.’
As Professor Wu spoke, he looked at Luo San meaningfully.
‘What, I was the one who screamed?’
“Don’t you know?’
‘Well. I was only thinking about saving Shen Yuan, and then I felt a bit dizzy, and then I noticed that everything had returned to normal.‘
’Forget it, let’s not talk about that, now it’s important to find that entrance,‘ Nan Qingyi urged.
’Just now I saw a stone that was very strange, and it is very likely to be the entrance,‘ Luo San said.
’Where is that stone?’
Luosan looked around. Everything at the bottom of the lake had changed over the years, not to mention that he had only glanced at it briefly, so he could only roughly point out a location.
That area was quite large and not easy to find. Professor Wu, however, confidently pointed at the scaly white fish swimming in front of him and said, ‘If our guess is correct, and these fish came from underground caves to this lake after the earthquake, then it means that the force that sealed the entrance back then was severely damaged in the earthquake. Perhaps Brother Feng and I can use our blood to find it.‘
’Not bad,‘ Feng Yixi said with delight.
’The lock on that entrance will definitely recognise our blood.”
Bright red blood flowed from the fingers of the two men and drifted in the water, slowly drifting in one direction. The crowd immediately followed and swam over. The blood finally stopped in one place and slowly sank into it.
‘This is the place,’ said Professor Wu, and together with Feng Yiyi, they quickly dug at the bottom of the lake. Finally, after digging more than a metre of soil from the surface, a huge rock was revealed, with the blood, like flames, planted between the rocks, constantly swaying.
As soon as Professor Wu and Feng Yiyi saw it, they drifted to the top of the stone and fumbled and pounded on it. At first Luo San thought that the two of them were just randomly banging on the stone, but he soon discovered that every movement and position of the two of them banging on the stone seemed to contain a mystery. After a round of banging, the rock suddenly began to move: the centre of the rock suddenly cracked open, and the surface of the rock rolled away from the centre like a carpet. In the end, the entire rock opened up like a stone box. In the middle of this stone box was a fist-sized, multicoloured stone. The surface of the stone was crystal clear like jade, and the inside was full of colourful light, which was very beautiful. The only flaw was a crack in the exact centre of the stone.
‘That’s right, this is the stone lock that seals the entrance. If this stone lock had not been damaged, no external force would be able to get in.’ Feng Yi said, reaching out and nudging the stone a little, which only slightly shook.
Feng Yi once again bit his finger and quickly smeared the blood that was quickly flowing on his finger on the colourful stone. The blood did not disperse with the water flow when it got on the stone, but instead seeped into the stone and blended in with the stone’s own colourful colours. Gradually, the five colours merged into one, and then a sound of ‘click’ was heard, and the stone cracked open from the middle.
‘Okay. Open…‘ Fengyi said excitedly, but he froze halfway through because the stone cracked from the middle, and the stone below it also cracked in half. However, what was exposed underground was not an entrance for people to pass through, but a solid piece of land.
’How could this be?’ Fengyi asked, looking at the hard soil in front of him.
Luo San looked at the soil in front of him and understood the problem after a little thought: this entrance should also be a sea eye. The sea eye in Chengdu only opens during thunderstorms, and I think this sea eye will only open during thunderstorms. But what should I do now? Do I have to wait here for thunder and rain? Luo San looked up at the sky above the water with a depressed expression. Suddenly, he felt a bright light, followed by a muffled sound. He looked around, but it was still calm all around. Only above his head did another bright light flash, followed by another muffled sound. It turned out to be raining.
‘This rain has come just in time,’ Luo San couldn’t help but be overjoyed.
Sure enough, everything turned out just as Luo San had predicted. In just a short while, the land, which had been as hard as iron and could not be dug through no matter what method was used, suddenly became soft and quickly sank, forming a huge tunnel in no time. The tunnel extended horizontally, and from the hole, a faint light could be seen.
Seeing all this, Luo San could not help but be stunned, and a familiar scene suddenly came to mind: Xanadu. It was through such a small hole that the Wuling fisherman entered Xanadu, so could there be a Xanadu here that no one knows about? Perhaps in such a place, Shen Yuan would no longer have to suffer from the curse of his family. Luo San was thinking about this when he heard Shen Yuan tug him and whisper, ‘Xiao Sanzi, what are you thinking about? We should go in.’
‘Oh, okay,’ Luo San agreed and swam into the tunnel with the others. The tunnel was quite wide, and it would not be a problem for several cars to drive side by side. As the group swam along the tunnel, they could only feel the road beneath their feet slowly extending downward, as if they were always going deeper and deeper underground. After swimming for an unknown period of time, Luo San gradually felt the cave in front of him brighten up. Luo San knew that ahead of him was the homeland that the Gorgi people, the Qiongdu tribe’s shamans, could not forget for a long time. Luosan looked at Professor Wu and Fengyi, who were swimming side by side, and couldn’t help but wonder if these two people, who had inherited part of the culture of the Gorgi people, had also inherited the Gorgi people’s blood. He wondered how they felt about this underground cave where the Gorgi people had lived for so many years.
Luosan soon had no time to care about the feelings of Professor Wu and the others, because as soon as Professor Wu and Fengyi swam out of the tunnel, they stopped. Luo San hurriedly swam up to them, wanting to ask what had happened, but was stunned by the sight before him: he saw an endless expanse of ocean, while he and Professor Wu and the others were underground at the bottom of the sea; not far below was soft sand and gravel and all kinds of shallow sea animals and plants and the seabed extending deeper and deeper, while above his head was a blue sky with a red sun hanging in the middle.
“How is this possible?’ ‘How is it possible that there is such a world underground, with the sun, the sky, and everything else? Luo San paid no heed to the self-talk of Feng Yi and Professor Wu, who were both shocked. Like Professor Wu, he didn’t believe it was real either, but everything in front of him was so real that he had to accept the reality: there was an underground world hundreds of kilometres underground from Chengdu to Mao County in Sichuan. Like the world we live in now, this underground world has a sky and a sun, except that there is no land, and most of the entire world is submerged in water.
This really is a paradise.
The group just kept looking at it until Shen Yuan suggested to them, ‘It’s not good for your health to stay in the water all the time, let’s go up and have a look.’
‘Yes, I’d like to see what that sun is all about,’ said Luo San, and he struggled to swim to the surface. It wasn’t far to the surface, and after a few minutes, the sea was in sight. The creatures in the sea had never seen a human before, so they didn’t panic when they saw Luo San and the others. They swam past them one after the other, and in particular, the turtles, each the size of a wheel, swam around Luo San, swimming back and forth, showing extraordinary affection.
After emerging from the water, Luo San hurriedly removed his diving equipment and took a big breath, feeling instantly refreshed. Is the air different here too? Luo San took another deep breath and indeed felt that the air here made one feel extra clear-headed.
‘The oxygen content of the air here is much higher than on the surface,’ Professor Wu said as he carefully breathed in the air, ‘Everyone must be careful here, because we still don’t know how things will be different here from the world we know.’
‘Yes. We should be careful and see if there is any land.‘ Luo San said, and looked around. Sure enough, there seemed to be a shore at the end of the sea on the right.
’Is there land there?‘ Luo San asked the others as he floated on the water.
Professor Wu looked in the direction Luo San was pointing, and sure enough, he saw what looked like a piece of land in the distance.
’Shall we go and have a look?’ Professor Wu asked for the opinions of the others.
‘Needless to say? We must go. Otherwise, what are we going to do here in the middle of the ocean? We don’t have all the time in the world.‘ Feng Yidao said, “The entire underground cave is almost submerged in water. If the shamans left any clues here back then, they must have left them on that piece of land.”
’Then there’s no need for any more nonsense. Let’s go,’ Shen Yuan said, struggling to swim forward.
‘Send 30 more people immediately with equipment and weapons to enter the water.‘ Nan Qingyi swam towards the land while giving orders to the people on the ground through the underwater communication facilities.
’It’s still comfortable on land,’ said Luo San. After arriving on shore, he just lay on the ground, stretching out, which made Professor Wu shake his head and say to Shen Yuan, ’Pull Xiaosan up. We should split up and take a look inside to look for clues.’
Luo San did not wait for Shen Yuan to speak, immediately supporting himself with his right hand, he rolled over and sat up, trying to stand up. But as soon as he straightened up, he let out a surprised sound and stopped.
Seeing Luo San’s unusual situation, Shen Yuan immediately crouched down and asked with concern, ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I was jostled by something,’ said Luo San, while quickly shovelling away the sand on the ground. As the sand on the surface was removed, a white bone-like object was revealed on the ground. It seemed that a large part of the object was still buried in the sand. Seeing this, Luo San immediately grabbed one end of the object and dragged it outwards, but unexpectedly fell over. However, in doing so, he also got a good look at the object in his hands, which was a tusk.
At this time, Professor Wu and the others also gathered around. ‘Strange! Strange!’ Professor Wu shook his head while muttering as he looked at the tusk.
Shen Yuan also chimed in: ‘It is strange. How could there be ivory on land in such an underground cave?’
‘Could it be the ivory used by the Gorgon people in their sacrifices?’ Luo San said. ‘Didn’t Professor Wu say that during the archaeological excavations at the Sanxingdui site, a large amount of ivory and sea shells were found? I have this idea. Since in our inference, the Sanxingdui civilization was founded by the Gorgon people, then as the earliest place of residence of the Gorgon people, this underground cave is actually the source of the Sanxingdui civilization. Therefore, I speculate that the ivory and sea shells in the Sanxingdui civilization were most likely produced here on land and in the sea respectively.
‘What you mean is that the elephants lived in this cave on the ground in front of us?’ Shen Yuan said.
‘Maybe not exactly. We previously speculated that this cave was flooded. Perhaps in the past, when the water level was not so high, there was still other land in this cave, and the elephants may have survived on that land.‘
’Stop, stop,’ Professor Wu suddenly interrupted the discussion between Luo San and Shen Yuan, shaking his head and sighing, ’Do you know why I said it was strange? Just keep talking here.’
‘Aren’t you surprised that there is an ivory here?‘ Shen Yuan and Luo San asked in unison.
’Of course not,’ Professor Wu said with a satisfied expression on his face. ’If this ivory is really what Xiaosan said it was, a Goji sacrificial offering, then there is nothing strange about it. What is really strange is the ivory itself. Now look at the ivory and see if you notice anything unusual.’
Luo San and Shen Yuan immediately focused their attention on the ivory again. What was different about the ivory in their hands? Luo San wiped the sand off its surface, and the ivory’s true appearance was revealed in its entirety. The white ivory, reflecting the sunlight, looked exceptionally crystal clear. Suddenly Luo San realised where the problem lay. The ivory was too white, so white that it looked as if it had just been plucked from an elephant’s body, and an ivory that had been buried in the ground for thousands of years would never look like this.
When Luo San told Professor Wu about this discovery, Wu nodded in satisfaction and said, ‘Yes, that’s the problem. This ivory is not a relic from ancient sacrifices, but was buried in the soil recently, not more than 10 years ago.’
‘Not more than 10 years?’ Although Luo San could see that the ivory was very new, he still couldn’t believe it was that new.
‘How is this possible? Could there be someone here who performed a sacrifice 10 years ago?’ Shen Yuan couldn’t understand it either.
‘It wasn’t a sacrifice, they were killed and left here.’ Before Professor Wu could speak, Feng Yichi in the distance answered.
The group then noticed that after Fengyi had come ashore, he had not been with the others, but had been looking at something on his own. By now, he had dug more than ten pits of various sizes on the beach, revealing a large number of bones buried under the sand.
Who killed and buried so many animals here? Luo San wondered.
‘Could it be that the sudden rise in water level in this underground ocean flooded the land, causing the mass death of these animals?‘ Luo San guessed.
’They weren’t drowned,’ Feng said in a resolute voice. “Look at the bones of this elephant, they are densely covered with gnawing marks.”
Sure enough, the bones were densely covered with gnawing marks. The gnawing marks were not very big, and the group of people didn’t know what animal had caused them.
‘I believe the secret to everything lies in the jungle. Let’s hurry and go into the jungle to find clues,’ Shen Yuan said.
As soon as he heard that they were going to go inside, Luo San began to survey the land in front of him: this land in the underground cave was actually just a concave area on the inner wall of this huge cave. Nevertheless, this concave area, due to its huge area, had soil and groundwater on it. Over the thousands of years, various plants and animals have survived here. The ginkgo biloba and yew trees, which are tens of metres high and surrounded by several people, have towering, lush branches that shade the area. Under the tall trees, all kinds of ferns, shrubs, and weeds grew luxuriantly, making it impossible to find a path. Occasionally, there would be a path wide enough for a person to stretch out one foot, a path left by beasts or birds as they passed through day after day.
The group split into two teams and headed into the depths of the jungle. Luo San, Shen Yuan, Nan Qingyi, Nan Yi, and some of their entourage were one team.
The path in the jungle was quite difficult to walk on, with their feet knee-deep in weeds and their feet entangled in thorns and vines. Fortunately, Nan Qingyi’s clan was clearing a path ahead of them, so everything was going relatively smoothly.
The deeper they went into the jungle, the darker the light became, and the denser the vegetation grew. But what was strange was that in the jungle, they could see trees as thick as a bowl being felled and lying on the ground, rotting for a long time. Luosan looked around as he walked, hoping to find some clue to the Qiongdu people’s shamans, but all he found along the way were trees, and trees, and trees. The tall trees, the plants that had been growing and dying for thousands of years, seemed to have covered up all traces of humans. But Luosan did not give up hope of finding something, and instead, he broke off a piece of bamboo and poked at things on the ground along the way, hoping to find some clue. Suddenly, Luo San felt the end of the bamboo pole poke into something hard. At first, Luo San ignored it, thinking that it had just poked into a stone in the soil, but then the bamboo pole poked into another hard object. Luo San crouched down and used the bamboo pole to shovel the soil on the ground away. Beneath the soil was a rock, rough and irregular, but clearly with signs of polishing. Luo San quickly removed all the soil around the rock, and beneath that soil were the same few stones.
‘Found anything?‘ Shen Yuan’s voice broke Luo San’s thoughts.
’Hm!‘ Luo San nodded, pointing the stones on the ground to Shen Yuan while quickly stirring the soil with his hands. “These stones were obviously laid here by someone, this is a passage.”
’Clear away the stuff on top.’
Following Nan Qingyi’s suggestion, the group quickly cleared a place, and the view suddenly opened up. What met the eye was a road more than three metres wide, built with irregular stones, leading into the depths of the jungle.
The clue to the sea eye left by the Gorgonians should be in the depths of the jungle, otherwise they would not have built such a road. Luo San thought to himself, and immediately signalled Shen Yuan to send a signal to Professor Wu and the others.
Shen Yuan, however, shook his head: ‘No hurry, let’s walk a little further into the jungle, and when we see what’s really there, we can signal them.’ With that, Shen Yuan walked along the stone path into the depths of the jungle, waving his hands to signal Luo San and Nan Qingyi to follow.
At that moment, however, a signal flare appeared not far away. This meant that Professor Wu and the others had discovered something.
“Let’s go take a look. I hope it’s not just a path like the one we found.’
Professor Wu and Feng Yi did not disappoint Luo San and Shen Yuan, because what they discovered was far more than just a road…
Chapter 21: Guardians of an Underground Civilization
‘Beneath your feet are three paths, three meters wide, made of gravel. The gravel comes from here, simply polished and roughly processed; these paths lead in all directions; currently, we don’t know what use they serve,’ said Professor Wu to Luo San and Shen Yuan, standing in front of one of the stone paths. The stone path in front of them was the same as the one Luo San had seen earlier, except that several paths extended in all directions into the eerie darkness of the jungle. I wonder if those paths will meet again deep in the jungle, and if something even more important awaits them there.
The source of those three paths is that small hill over 30 metres high. Professor Wu saw Luo San looking at the small hill and immediately pointed at it and said to Luo San and Shen Yuan, ‘This hill, apart from the surface soil, is made entirely of huge rocks, with scorch marks in some places. I think it is an altar.’ Upon hearing Professor Wu’s words, Luo San and Shen Yuan immediately shifted their attention from the stone path to the hillside. The rocks on the hillside were enormous, comparable to the huge stones that made up the Qiong people’s stone tombs in the Anning River Valley. Compared to the paving stones, these stones seemed to have been carefully polished. Not only were they smooth and regular in appearance, but they were also of uniform size, stacked neatly together to form the hillside before them. Upon closer inspection, Luo San realised that the small hill was actually round in shape, with a large base and a small top, and that the top was basically flat. Judging from this shape, it really looked a lot like an altar. On the front of the hill was a row of steps that led from the ground to the top of the hill. Luo San followed the steps to the top of the hill and looked into the distance along the direction of the three roads, but found that his line of sight had been completely blocked by the dense branches and leaves, and he could not see the situation in the distance at all. With no choice, Luo San had to turn his attention to the top of the hill.
When he first saw this hill, Luo San felt that it was strange, but he couldn’t say exactly what was strange about it. It wasn’t until he stood on top of the hill that he finally understood. The strange thing about this hill was that, in the entire jungle, including the plants in other parts of the hill that were quite lush, the top of this hill, which was only 400 square meters wide, was a bare, grassless expanse. Even if the top of the hill was made up of a single smooth, hard boulder, over the course of 2,000 years, the elements have not left any marks on it. The tenacious life of plants has not left moss and other organisms on the boulder, and even the fallen leaves of thousands of years have not visited here to leave the dead leaves to finally turn to dust.
‘It’s strange, isn’t it? This place is completely bare,’ said Professor Wu, appearing suddenly behind Luo San as he stared in awe at the spot on the top of the slope that was even spotless.
Luo San nodded and asked, ’Do you know what the reason is?’
‘No.‘ Professor Wu said, shaking the ashes. The ashes, with sparks, peeled off the red butt and fell silently onto the rock. Just as they were about to land on the surface of the rock, they suddenly swirled and drifted upwards, as if caught in the wind, and gradually flew higher and higher, drifting further and further away, finally disappearing from the top of the slope.
’So there is wind. What exactly caused it?’
‘It’s a remnant of a previous civilisation. Don’t look at it with modern thinking, I can’t find an answer anyway.‘ As Professor Wu was talking, Nan Qingyi, who was not far away, suddenly shouted, “Come quickly.”
What Nan Qingyi found were some lines on the ground, crisscrossed with dots of different sizes.
’This can’t be some kind of rune, can it?‘ Nan Qingyi asked Feng Yi.
’No.’
‘Then, could this thing be a map?’ Luo San hesitantly said his thoughts.
Shen Yuan nodded and said, “This is a map, and it is the map of the land beneath our feet.” Shen Yuan pointed to a small dot on the cloth and said to the crowd, “Look, there is a small dot here, and three thin lines extend from this dot. I think they are the three roads in front of us.” The crowd looked up and saw that the three roads in front of them were indeed the same as the three lines marked on the map.
‘It seems that Shen Yuan was right. Then let’s see what else is marked on this map,’ said Professor Wu, leaning in closer and studying the map carefully.
The crisscrossing thin lines on this map are presumably the stone roads, and the dots dotted at the intersections of the thin lines are presumably the individual hillsides. Luo San counted and found that there were a total of nine dots marked on the map, and these nine dots were arranged in a nine-square grid. The dot in the centre was much larger than the others, and I think it is a special place.‘ What does this line refer to?’ Shen Yuan’s words attracted everyone’s attention to a thin line at the edge of the map. That line was located outside the dot representing the hill Luo San and the others were currently on, and it ran across the entire map.
Professor Wu looked at the line and mused, ‘It could be the thing it refers to.’ He then stood up and pointed to a place not far from the hillside, saying, ‘There is a strange section of earthen wall there, about three metres wide, and the length is unpredictable. I think it is the thing this line refers to.’
Luo San looked as far as he could see, but since it was already dark in the jungle, and the branches and leaves of the luxuriant vegetation blocked his view, he couldn’t see anything at all. The group had to walk down the hillside and, under Professor Wu’s guidance, arrived in front of the section of wall.
In the undergrowth, a dirt wall about a metre high and three metres wide could be faintly seen. Due to the leaves piled up on the surface of the dirt wall, the group could not see the true appearance of the dirt wall at all. Nan Qingyi immediately asked the clan members to go up and clear it. In a short while, the group finally saw the true appearance of the dirt wall. The bottom of the dirt wall was irregular, but the top surface was surprisingly smooth and flat.
‘What is it for?’ the crowd looked at each other in puzzlement. Logically, a wall of this width would be like a city wall built for this place, but the height was too short. But if it wasn’t a city wall, what was it used for? Could it be a threshold built by the Gorgi people?
While the crowd was wondering, they suddenly heard a rustling sound, and the bushes in front of them began to shake non-stop, and even the ground trembled slightly. Luosan looked around three or four times, but saw groups of animals such as pheasants, hares, snakes, and even wild boars all running out of the jungle, each one terrified, running past Luosan and the others without stopping, as if there was something terrifying outside the jungle. The group were looking at each other in amazement when they heard even louder splashing and cracking sounds coming from the jungle, and the shaking of the ground beneath their feet became even more violent, as if a group of animals with huge bodies were running.
Lo San could vaguely see the bowl-sized trees in the jungle, falling with loud cracking noises. As the trees fell, a group of animals with bodies the size of small hills poured out. Bucket-sized feet, huge bodies, long snouts…it was a herd of elephants. Could it be that all the animals were fleeing because of the herd of elephants? Lo San quickly dismissed this idea, because the herd of elephants was also as frightened as the group of animals that had just passed by.
‘Quick, let’s run up the hill,’ Professor Wu called anxiously, taking the lead and beginning to run up the hill. Everyone else immediately followed, because if they didn’t make it to the top of the hill before the elephants arrived, they might all be trampled to death by the frightened elephants.
Standing on the hill, everyone was still panting when they heard a rustling sound coming from the jungle. Gradually they saw that it was a dark mass. It was a group of mice the size of little pigs. Looking at the black tide of mice, Luo San couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine. Suddenly, he felt Shen Yuan next to him tremble slightly. He turned his head and saw Shen Yuan, whose face was pale, looking at the constantly surging mice at the foot of the hill, her hands clenched tightly. Luo San silently reached out and took Shen Yuan’s hand. Shen Yuan immediately squeezed his hand tightly. ‘Don’t worry, we still have so many people, these mice are not a problem,’ Luo San comforted softly.
Shen Yuan’s lips were tightly closed, and she didn’t say anything. It was obvious that she was still quite scared. Luo San couldn’t help but laugh silently to himself. Girls are just girls. Even Shen Yuan, who had dealt with corpses since she was a child, was still inexplicably afraid of these mice.
Soon Luo San’s attention shifted back to the rats. Unlike the animals that had previously run past, these rats were fast runners, but they were not in the least bit panicked. They could be described as orderly, and they were closing in from three directions, converging here as quickly as a tide. Along the way, those animals that ran more slowly, or those that got stuck between trees, were quickly overwhelmed by the tide and in an instant became a pile of bones. Luo San finally understood what had caused the gnawing marks on the elephant bones he had seen on the beach earlier. The rat colony kept gathering towards the shore, forming a huge encirclement and gradually driving all kinds of animals towards the shore.
‘It seems that these rats are very clever. They want to drive all these animals into the sea to drown, and then gnaw them one by one. Damn, these aren’t just rats, they’re a group of rat demons,’ Professor Wu said with emotion.
‘How come these rats are so big?’ Luo San couldn’t help but ask.
Professor Wu shook his head and said, ’There are records of giant rats all over the world, but those giant rats often survive on some deserted islands. Some are caused by nuclear tests, and some are caused by pollution. But I really don’t know what caused these giant rats here.’
As he spoke, the rat pack closed in on the fleeing animals, who were huddled together on the shore, in a panic, with the sea on one side and the rat pack on the other. It looked as if they were about to be overwhelmed. But just then the rat pack suddenly stopped.
Luo San was astonished to discover that the rats had stopped in a very strange way. They all stopped in front of the section of the earthen wall that Luo San and the others had never known what to do with.
The sight before them looked extremely strange. A section of earth wall with no visible edge ran through the entire jungle. On one side were the black rats, motionless as a mountain range, not even making a sound; on the other side were a group of frightened animals of all kinds, from elephants to hares, all like lambs about to be slaughtered, helplessly staying on the rocks outside the jungle, by the shore.
‘What are they doing?’ Luo San looked at the immobile rats and couldn’t help but exclaim.
‘It is a bit strange. They should have immediately gone up and gnawed all these animals to the bone, so why are they not moving?‘ Professor Wu was also puzzled.
’Could it be that they are waiting for something?’ Shen Yuan asked.
Before Shen Yuan finished speaking, everyone saw commotion among the animals outside the earthen wall. Soon, the animals began to run back desperately, rushing back into the earthen wall regardless of everything. However, the rats on the other side of the earthen wall like soldiers defending a city, did not retreat, and one after another, they piled on top of each other, forming a black, more than two-metre-high wall. Once an animal crossed the rocks, it would immediately fall into the rat wall and be gnawed to the bone. After a few rounds, countless bones had accumulated inside the rocks. The rats climbed among the bones and continued to hold their ground, while the animals, contrary to their usual behaviour, charged crazily, no matter how many corpses had accumulated in front of them.
What on earth was causing these animals to panic like this? Luo San was puzzled. In the distance, he heard a faint rumble. He looked as far as he could see, but all he could see was the rough waves on the distant shore, surging in like a mountain of water, instantly drowning the slow animals. In the blink of an eye, the tide reached the distance of the earthen wall. For a while, the animals outside the earthen wall rushed even more desperately towards the inside, but they were unable to break through the blockade formed by the rats. And in the face of the surging tide, the rats were not at all moved, and they always stayed in front of the rocks. Everyone felt strange. Could it be that these rats could swim, or were they trying to perish together with the animals?
A few seconds later, the first wave of the tide had already reached the earthen wall and was about to cross it and drown the mice, but the mice remained unmoved. Could it be that these mice were truly fearless? Just as Luo San was wondering, the earthen wall suddenly shook a little, as if a sleeping giant had stretched after being awakened. Then, the section of earthen wall began to rise slowly in a slight tremor, as if growing out of the ground. At first, the growth was slow, but with the arrival of the second wave, the growth rate suddenly increased. Within a few seconds, the wall grew from less than 3 metres high to 40 metres high. The surging tide slammed against the wall, but the 3-metre-wide wall did not budge.
‘Resting earth, that’s a wall made of resting earth, that’s why it grows when it meets water,‘ Professor Wu suddenly exclaimed, “I understand, this wall was built by the Gorgonians to prevent the sea from surging inland.”
’Resting earth? Is it the resting earth that Dayu’s father used to control the floods?’ Luo San looked at the wall, which was growing taller and taller, with great interest.
‘Yes, that’s the stuff. I always thought it was just a myth, but I never expected it to actually exist. Could it be high-tech again? No, I have to get some.‘
’Don’t be stupid, okay?’ Nan Qingyi roared, “Don’t you see what’s going on?”
The situation could only be described as extremely critical. Because the rat colony began squeaking and squealing, retreating from the side of the earthen wall and gathering around the small hill where Luo San and the others had set up camp. Their goal was clear: they wanted to kill the intruders. Everyone became nervous. Luo San even felt Shen Yuan’s hand in his palm tremble slightly. Luo San squeezed Shen Yuan’s hand to show his support, but his heart was also racing. Not only were there a lot of mice, but they seemed to be under the command of someone. Even though everyone had weapons, they were afraid that they would not be able to escape from such a large group of mice.
Luo San’s intuition was not wrong. Soon, after the rats formed a circle by the small hill, with a loud squeaking noise, the rats began to swarm towards the top of the hill. Luo San could clearly feel Shen Yuan’s hand tremble in his palm. He decisively pulled Shen Yuan behind him, let go of her hand, took a gun from Nanyi, and nervously looked down the hill.
‘Fire.’ With a command from Nanyi, there was a loud gunfire all around. Luo San also pulled the trigger. The huge recoil made him unable to adapt for a while, but soon he got used to it. The gun in his hands sprayed bullets like rain, shooting at the rat pack. One by one, the rats fell down screaming. In an instant, the hill slope was already full of rat corpses. However, the rat pack continued to charge forward without delay, stepping on the corpses of their companions and continuing to climb upwards.
Seeing this, Nanyi waved his hand, and countless incendiary bombs soared into the air and landed among the rats. The flames temporarily blocked the rats’ path, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of burning. The rats retreated like a tide. Just as Luo San excitedly thought that the rats had begun to retreat, he noticed that they had begun to gather in the west and quickly launched another attack.
The western defence was indeed the weakest, so the rat pack quickly closed in on the mountainside, braving the hail of bullets and advancing rapidly towards the top.
‘Reinforce the west,’ said Nanyi, and before he finished speaking, countless accelerants had been dumped on the western hillside, mixing with the black rats. The next second, the entire hillside was already ablaze. However, the rats seemed to have been prepared for this, and at the moment the accelerant was poured, they quickly retreated, so that although the whole hillside was a sea of flames, not many of the rats were killed. The rats that had retreated from the hillside had now swarmed towards the east.
After several such incidents, the neutron bombs and weapons in the hands of Nanyi and the others were already running low. Luo San realised that this was an extraordinary group of rats, and that they were under a unified command. Luo San thought to himself that if he could find the leader of this group of rats, he might be able to make the rats scatter. At that moment, he immediately looked around, eager to find something. However, all that came into view was the dark jungle, and the large group of rats. Luo San still looked around with undying hope. The light in the jungle had become darker than when Luo San and the others first arrived. After looking around in this light for a while, Luo San felt his eyes become unbearably sore and he couldn’t help but rub them. However, he quickly stopped what he was doing because he suddenly saw two red flashes in the depths of the jungle. Luo San immediately widened his eyes and looked into the depths of the jungle. Sure enough, in the depths of that jungle, there were two red flashes. As those two flashes rotated, the rat pack also immediately followed the direction of the rotation and attacked.
It seems that this is the commander of the rat pack, Luo San thought excitedly, and was about to point it out to the crowd when he heard Nanyi shouting, ‘Bumo, we can’t hold them back any longer. We must send you and a few friends away first.’ Nanyi then said to his people, ‘Everyone, we will do our best to get Bumo and his friends out of danger.’
Professor Wu kept shaking his head: ‘This is out of the question. Let’s think of another way.’
‘What other options do we have? If we don’t charge down the hill, we’re all dead. If we charge down the hill, there might be a chance to survive.‘
’Retreat the defence line, concentrate to the east, and prepare to escort Bu Mo and his friends down the hill,‘ Nanyi shouted.
’Maybe it’s not necessary,’ Luo San pointed at the red light deep in the jungle, ’that’s the leader of the rat pack. As long as we kill that big rat, everything will be fine.’
‘Nonsense, it’s so far away, far beyond the range of our guns. Brothers, tighten the defence line and concentrate towards the east.”
But the rat pack obviously wasn’t going to give them that chance. Even as they were talking, they were already closing in on the top of the hill, and there was no chance of them breaking out.
At this point, Fengyi, who had been hiding out of the way and had been quiet, suddenly spoke up: “I’ve found something over here, hurry and concentrate over here.”
Fengyi’s discovery was a protruding, round object on the top of the hill, like a button.
‘This is a switch, although I don’t know what it’s for, but now there’s nothing to lose, we have to give it a try,’ said Wind One, and quickly gave the button a few taps before pressing it. After a rattling sound, a hole appeared on the platform, and a strong wind blew out of the hole, blowing everyone off their feet. A few men who were concentrating on fighting the rat pack were so distracted that they were blown down the mountain and quickly turned into white bones.
The wind in the cave seemed endless and grew more and more violent. At first, Luo San and the others could barely hold on, but in the end, the wind blew them closer and closer to the edge of the mountain. Just as everyone was about to fall to their deaths and be gnawed to bone by the rats, a long, loud screech suddenly came from the sky. The sound didn’t seem loud, but it shook everyone’s eardrums.
The sound stopped after a long time, and the crowd was surprised to find that the wind had stopped and the rats had stopped their attack. Luo San noticed that the two red lights deep in the jungle were now shooting up into the sky.
The sky suddenly became brighter, and the setting sun became radiant, like the rising sun. Opposite him, the moon was looking across the sky, its silvery white light in no way inferior to the sun’s.
‘The sun and the moon shining together?’ These were the first words that Luo San thought of, but the next second, Luo San didn’t know how to describe the scene in front of him. The sun at the horizon began to sway slightly, and it took a while before it stopped.
Since the sun and the moon appeared in the sky at the same time, the temperature suddenly became scorching, and the jungle was humid and stuffy. In the depths of the jungle, a white gas began to slowly flow on the ground of the jungle. Gradually, there was more and more gas, slowly flowing towards the small hill where Luo San and the others were standing.
The rat pack surrounding the hillside squeaked, seeming to panic, but still maintaining their neat formation. Gradually the white gas flowed into the rat pack, and the numerous rats were submerged in a white haze. The squeaking of the rat pack grew louder and louder, and the neat formation became disordered. However, the squeaking of the rat pack grew quieter and quieter. Luo San noticed that wherever the white gas passed, except for the exceptionally tall trees, all the ordinary trees turned yellow.
‘No good, there’s something wrong with those gases,‘ Luo San just shouted this out, and saw that the rat pack was now completely in disarray. The rats that had been standing still began to run towards the top of the hill.
’Everyone go underground,’ Nan Qingyi decisively ordered.
The underground was a tunnel more than 10 metres wide, leading to an unknown destination. Without thinking about it, everyone ran forward, chasing each other. The rats followed closely behind. Nan Yi and the others stopped from time to time to shoot back, but the effect was getting smaller and smaller. The passage was packed with rats, coming like a tide.
Luo San ran in the dark, not knowing how long he had been running. He just felt that his steps were getting slower and slower, and his legs were like lead, making it difficult to move. And the rats had stopped at some point, and did not come after them anymore. The others also seemed to realise that the rat pack had stopped chasing them, and their footsteps slowed down one after the other, and eventually they all sat down on the ground.
After a long time, Feng Yi suddenly asked, ‘Since there are so many rats here, why haven’t they eaten all these animals and plants?’
Professor Wu replied thoughtfully, ‘These rats are not as simple as we think. I’m afraid their actions today are not just for predation.’
‘What for, then?’ Feng Yi couldn’t understand.
“If they were predatory, they could have eaten all these animals on the way, and they would not have needed to make such a big fuss and go to such trouble to drive them to the shore. I suspect that the purpose of these rats is to reduce the number of animals in the jungle, and for this reason, they carry out such operations regularly. Before the sea water rises, they drive these animals out of the jungle, so that the number of animals in the jungle will be greatly reduced, thus ensuring the ecological balance of the entire jungle. This is why we see so many white bones on the beach by the sea. These rats should be the jungle guardians left behind by the Gorgonians.‘
’Will these rats come after us?’ Luo San asked worriedly.
‘I don’t think so. If they wanted to, they would have already done so.’ Professor Wu stood up and looked around. “There must be something about this place that keeps the rats away.”
Hearing what Professor Wu said, Luo San began to look around. It turned out that they were in an underground passage. The underground passage was more than 10 metres wide and 10 metres high, stretching straight ahead, leading to who knows where. The passage was made of stone, each stone carefully polished to a smooth surface.
‘What’s the situation on the ground?’ Professor Wu suddenly asked.
Nan Yi shook his head: ‘I don’t know. The entrance has been blocked by rats. We’ve lost contact with the people by the lake. If we want to get out, we have to keep going, there’s no other way.’
‘Then let’s go quickly.’
Chapter 22: The Return of Shi Feng
’Professor Wu, do you know what that white gas is?’
‘Xiaosan, I’m not omnipotent. Don’t ask me everything. But I guess it might be something like miasma.‘
’Can miasma make trees wither?‘
’I said I’m not omnipotent, don’t ask me everything.‘
’…‘
’Professor Wu, this place is so strange, do you think we’ll encounter creatures on the ground that we’ve never seen before?‘
’Xiaosan, can you stop asking so many questions.’
The underground passage seemed endless. Everyone walked silently forward, only Luo San occasionally remembering something and pestering Professor Wu. After the battle just now, they had lost more than ten people. Nan Yi looked very sad and walked silently in the back, while Nan Qingyi was still very anxious and walked quickly forward. Everyone could only run quickly forward to keep up with him.
It took a full six hours of walking before Luo San saw a slight change in the passage ahead.
A hall of several thousand square metres appeared at the end of the passageway.
It was an open-air hall, and when the group looked up, they could see the azure sky, dotted with stars and a full moon. The hall was empty and could be seen in its entirety at a glance. At the other end of the hall was a passageway leading forward.
‘I don’t know where that passageway leads, so it seems like we’ll just have to sleep here tonight,’ Nan Qingyi said to the group in frustration.
‘Good!’ Everyone was tired and eager to get some sleep, so they agreed to Nan Qingyi’s suggestion.
After eating the dried food, Luo San quickly fell asleep in the sleeping bag. He didn’t know how long it had been when he was suddenly awakened by a sound. It was Professor Wu’s voice, and he could only hear Professor Wu muttering, ’The burden of the enlightened royal family over the past few thousand years has finally ended in my hands, that’s great, that’s great…’
It seems that Professor Wu was dreaming. Luo San listened, then closed his eyes again, preparing to fall asleep again, but heard Shen Yuan exclaim in alarm, ‘Xiaosan, how could it be you? How could it be you? No, it’s impossible…’ The sound stopped here, and after a long while, Luo San heard Shen Yuan exclaim in joy, ‘Xiaosan, I told you it was a misunderstanding, it couldn’t be you.’
‘Slay the dragon! Slay the dragon!’ At this point, another voice suddenly sounded. Luo San recognised it as Nan Qingyi’s voice. Luo San wanted to hear what else Nan Qingyi would say, but after those two words, Nan Qingyi never spoke again.
What did slay the dragon mean? What kind of dream had Shen Yuan had, and what was me and not me? Luo San thought about it for a long time but couldn’t figure it out, and he fell asleep again in a daze.
When Luo San woke up again, the sky above him was still dark, and the moon was in the centre of the sky, spilling its silvery light across the world. Luo San fell asleep again.
After an unknown period of time, Luo San woke up again, but found that everyone else was still asleep, and the sky above him was still dark, and the moon seemed to have moved only a little.
Luo San closed his eyes again, but this time he could no longer sleep, because he found that he was in high spirits, and his stomach was rumbling. Luosan remembered that he had eaten a lot before going to bed, but now, looking at the sky above his head, it seemed that it had only been three or four hours since then. Why was he so hungry? Luosan couldn’t figure it out. He also couldn’t figure out another problem: why couldn’t he sleep, while everyone else was sound asleep, not even murmuring in their sleep as they had just been?
Bored, Luosan took out his mobile phone and played with it, but when he looked at the time, he froze.
The time on the phone said 10:30 a.m. on June 30th. Luo San clearly remembered that they had entered the water on June 29th, and when they went to sleep, he had specifically checked the time, which was 11:30 p.m. on June 29th. If the time on the phone was correct, that meant they had been asleep for 11 hours, but if it was 10:30 a.m., why was it still so dark.
Luo San understood that there must be something they had not noticed. And in solving this problem, all he could do was wake up the other few people as quickly as possible.
Everyone was sleeping very deeply. Luo San had to use all his strength to wake everyone up. After listening to Luo San’s situation, the group looked at the dark night sky and unanimously decided to quickly leave.
The group walked forward from the opposite side of the hall. That corridor was just as endless as the one they had just come from. The group had no choice but to keep walking, hoping to escape the darkness as soon as possible. But the darkness followed them everywhere. Several hours later, they were still running through the dark corridor.
‘Are we going to be trapped here?’ Professor Wu lamented as he walked.
‘Most likely, we won’t be able to get out in time. We’re already trapped here,‘ Wind replied. “It doesn’t matter for the two of us old folks, but it’s a pity for the young people.”
’We won’t be trapped to death,‘ Shen Yuan suddenly said, with a hint of joy in her tone.
’Girl, you’re right.‘
’Of course.”
Professor Wu looked at Shen Yuan, but saw her crouching on the ground, looking at an object on the ground.
‘This is a button from my shirt,’ Shen Yuan said, pointing to a button on the ground. ’I don’t know when it fell off, but I saw it appear on the ground in front of me twice.’
‘What do you mean?‘ Professor Wu asked.
’It means that this thing appeared before me before I got there?‘
’This is a button from your shirt. If it fell off you, it would at most fall not far in front of you, but it would never appear twice in front of you. Unless…‘
’Unless I have been there before.‘
’You mean we are going in circles.‘
’Exactly.’
‘Why is that so? What should we do now?‘
’I think we’re having a hallucination,‘ interjected Luo San.
’That’s possible.‘
’If it’s a hallucination, what should we do?‘
’Pain. Make yourself feel pain.”
After everyone had stabbed themselves, they found that they were standing in a hall, except that everything in front of them had changed. It was a circular hall with nine sculptures placed around the hall, and a sculpture was next to them. The sculpture was a giant human figure with a sharp face, prominent eyes, towering shoulders, wearing a round collar shirt, standing with his legs apart, his hands raised high, as if supporting a crystal clear object; the figure’s hair was braided and tied at the back of his head.
‘What is the sculpture holding in its hands?’ Nan Qingyi asked.
‘It looks like a piece of jade,’ Professor Wu replied.
‘It is jade,’ Feng Yi said. ’I once heard that one of the tribes of shamans had jade as their totem. It is said that this tribe can use jade to communicate with the heavens, the earth, and the gods. At the same time, because jade is the thing most similar to the human soul, they can use jade to create all illusions. Last night when we stepped into that hall, we had actually already arrived here. It was just unfortunate that as soon as we entered here, we were enchanted by the illusion and kept circling in this hall.’
Upon hearing Fengyi’s words, Luo San looked around and indeed saw that the ground was full of footprints circling the hall.
‘Let’s go and see the other sculptures,’ Professor Wu suggested enthusiastically.
The group then walked towards the next sculpture. The sculpture was shaped like the previous one, except that it was holding not jade, but a lump of something unrecognisable in its hands.
‘That’s mud,‘ explained Feng Yi. “We Qiongdou people are made of loess. It is said that the great shaman who created the Qiongdou people came from a tribe of shamans whose totem was loess.”
’Loess as a totem?‘ Luo San had a flash of inspiration. “Professor Wu, do you think the Xirang was made by this tribe?”
’Xiaosan, you’re right, it’s very likely,’
Nan Qingyi interrupted, ‘The Ancient Yue Du Jing says that the origin of the Du is the source of the soil. Could it be related to this people?’
‘I don’t know about that. Hey, what’s this?’ Professor Wu suddenly exclaimed, looking at his feet.
There was nothing under Professor Wu’s feet, just an ordinary stone slab, but Professor Wu’s feet had sunk into the stone. Professor Wu struggled to stand up, but he didn’t sink any deeper.
‘Quick, someone help me pull me out.’ Hearing Professor Wu’s cries for help, Luo San tried to step forward to help, but found that the ground beneath his feet was empty. His feet also began to sink into the ground. Luo San felt his whole body sinking lower and lower. He wanted to call for help, but found that Shen Yuan, Feng Yi, and Nan Qingyi were all struggling, and Feng Yi had already sunk below the chest into the ground.
‘Don’t move, we’ll come to your rescue,’ Luo San suddenly heard Nan Yi’s voice. He turned his head and saw that Nan Yi was fine and throwing over a rope.
Luo San reached out to catch a rope, turned around and saw Shen Yuan by his side. He quickly grabbed the rope with one hand and held Shen Yuan with the other. Nan Yi and the others pulled with all their strength, and Luo San’s body was half dragged out. Just as they saw him about to be dragged out of the ground, the strength at the end of the rope suddenly disappeared, and Luo San immediately sank back into the ground. It turned out that the people at the end of the rope had also begun to sink into the ground, too busy to help themselves. At present, there were less than ten people left who had not sunk into the ground, and these people became at a loss as to what to do in the face of the strange scene before them.
Feng shouted loudly, ‘Run far away, take the rope with you and run far away. If you stay far away, you will be fine for the time being.’
Nanyi and the others immediately ran far away.
‘A little further, a little further, okay, stop, start pulling us.’
A few minutes later, Luo San and the others were pulled out. However, there were four people who could not be rescued in time, and everyone watched as they sank into the stone slab. Looking back at the scene just now, everyone was still shaken.
‘Uncle Feng, what kind of place is this? It’s so strange,‘ Nan Qingyi asked.
’If I’m not mistaken, this should be a place of worship for the Shaman tribe. The nine statues represent the nine branches of the Ten Wind Clan, and the objects in their hands are their totems.‘
’I thought there were ten branches of the Shaman tribe, so why are there only nine?‘
’There are ten tribes of the Shaman tribe, but one of them is in a leadership position, so it’s not included here.‘
’I see.’
‘This place is too dangerous, we must find a way out as soon as possible.‘
’Brother Feng, it’s rare to find such a good place, it’s a pity not to look at it for a while and just leave.‘
’Are you crazy? The totem objects of each sculpture are set up, and it’s not known what danger there will be if you walk in front of them. Just now a piece of jade and a lump of soil almost got us killed, and now you want to get everyone else killed again?‘
’Brother Feng, just take a look again, just take a look from a distance, what is it exactly?’
Feng could not persuade Professor Wu, so he had to ask him to stand far away and look.
Luo San’s gaze swept across the hands of the sculptures. The third sculpture was holding a stone in its hands; the fourth sculpture was holding a horn and tusk; the fifth sculpture was holding a three-legged crow in its hands, and around the crow was a circle of something like flames. Professor Wu said that it was the sun-shaped ‘three-legged crow’ from the Central Plains. The sixth statue has nothing in its hands, but it still raises its hands towards the sky. The seventh statue has a carved bird in its hands, while the eighth statue has a large rat in its hands. The ninth statue holds a large snake in its hands. The snake is tens of metres long and as thick as a bucket. A huge head rests on the shoulder of the statue, spitting out a long tongue.
‘This shamanic tribe and Sanxingdui must have come from the same source,‘ Professor Wu explained as he looked at the sculptures. “The protruding eyes, the round-necked clothes with chicken hearts, and the braided hair are all features of the human figures from the Sanxingdui civilisation. And the stones, jade objects, and ivory in the sculptures” hands are also things that make up half of the cultural relics unearthed from Sanxingdui.’
‘The problem is, what’s the point? We still know almost nothing about the source of the Nine Provinces,’ Nan Qingyi complained.
‘Well, we did find something. We at least identified the location of Shifeng.‘
’The location of Shifeng? Professor Wu, are you sure you found the location of Shifeng?‘
’Yes. The Ancient Yuedu Classic records that ‘in the southwest of the country, the Bai people live… tens of thousands of li to the west, east of Qiongdu, north of the Bai people, south of Heishui, west of Shifeng, the mountains bear the sky, and the earth gives birth to the source of the river. This is the source of the nine provinces. …‘ Nan Qingyi did not mean to say that his great-grandfather had always been puzzled by this south of Shifeng. Now it seems that Shifeng refers to the ten Qiongdu tribes of shamans with the surname Feng, and Shifeng’s west refers to the source of the nine provinces, which is to the west of the ten Feng tribes’ place of residence. At first I thought that the ten winds referred to the underground where the ten wind tribe lived, but then I thought that the ancient Yue Du Jing was produced in the early Xia Dynasty, and at that time the ten winds had long since left the ground and gone to the surface. The only thing on the ground related to the ten winds at that time was Sanxingdui. As I just said, Sanxingdui and the ten winds have the same origin, and there is a 90% chance that it was founded by the ten wind people. The Shifeng in the ancient Yuedu Classic refers to Sanxingdui. Chengdu is southwest of Sanxingdui, in roughly the same direction. All that remains is to find the location of the black water and the white people, and then roughly determine the source of the Kyushu River.‘
’Then let’s set off and continue to look for clues.”
Chapter 23: Seeing “Chengdu” Again
It took the group quite some time to get from the hall to the ground, because there was only one passage leading from the hall to the ground, and it was made up of hundreds of steps. The group walked for half an hour before they suddenly saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
Just then, the underwater communication system came through with the voice of the Nanjingyi people: ‘Bu Mo, where are you? Please reply if you receive this.’
“We are deep in the jungle and have just come up from underground. Where are you?’
‘We are above the sea.‘
’Then why aren’t you coming over here? What are you doing?‘
’Bu Mo, it’s not that we aren’t coming over, but we are blocked by a wall and cannot get in from the sea. We have been trying to contact you since yesterday afternoon, but we haven’t been able to get through.‘
’Okay, enough of that. You can stay outside for now and keep in touch.’
‘Do you think we have a chance of getting out of this jungle? That wall is terrifying.‘ No one had thought about this question, but when Luo San mentioned it at this time, everyone became worried.
Professor Wu thought for a moment and said to the group, “That wall should only be temporary. Once the water recedes, it will be fine.”
’I think so too,’ said Nan Qingyi. “Let’s just take a look at the current situation.”
In front of them was a huge square paved with countless boulders, seemingly endless. In the centre of the square is a high platform. It looks like a square, but I don’t know how big it is. The entire platform is made of rocks, and huge rocks have been used to build the countless steps up and down the platform. Those steps extend from the bottom of the platform upwards, and there are countless steps. At the end of these steps, it seems that there is another platform, followed by countless more steps, which eventually disappear into the endless darkness and are ultimately unseen.
‘It is said that King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty’s construction of the deer platform led to the downfall of his kingdom. That deer platform was also said to be extremely high, but compared to this, it is nothing. Do you think if we climb to the very top, we will be able to pluck the stars from the sky?’ Professor Wu looked at the high platform in front of him and asked everyone excitedly, but no one responded. Feng stared at the platform in a daze, his expression solemn. Luo San helped Shen Yuan, who was exhausted, sit down and then began looking around. Gradually, Luo San walked to the edge of the square. Standing here, he realised that the square they were on was not on the ground at all, but in midair, nearly a hundred metres above the ground. Looking more closely, Luo San discovered that the square was just one of the platforms on the high platform.
Standing on the edge of the platform and looking out, Luo San discovered that he had a panoramic view of the entire jungle. Vaguely, he could see roads crisscrossing through the jungle, like a network. At the points of this network were a few bare spots. Luo San knew that those places should be like the small platforms they had just seen in the jungle, with stone-piled slopes that were barren of grass, so when he stood here at a high altitude, it looked particularly clear. And at the end of the jungle was the sheer rock face, almost reaching the sky, blocking the surging sea at the end of the jungle.
As his gaze swept across the vast boulder square, the high platform towering into the sky, and the seemingly endless steps, Luo San suddenly remembered the altar he had seen in the cave at the bottom of the tomb of the Qiongdu people in Xichang. That altar was so similar to the high platform made up of numerous steps in front of him. So, is the end of this high platform also like that altar, the top of the cave, which seems to be just a few hundred metres above the ground? If so, is this platform also an altar? Is the source of Kyushu or the secret of the sea’s eye left on this altar? Luo San’s mind could not help but come up with a lot of questions, and he knew that the key to solving these questions was to follow the countless steps and climb to the top of the platform, where the answers to these questions would be found. But looking at the steps, which seemed to go on forever, Luo San could not help but feel a little scared.
At that moment, Nan Qingyi suddenly shouted at the crowd, ‘We don’t have much time, let’s hurry up and go up.’ With that, Nan Qingyi had already turned around and stepped onto the first step of the high platform. ‘Damn it, climbing such a high place,’ Professor Wu cursed, but he didn’t stop walking towards the high platform. Luo San and Shen Yuan had no choice but to follow the crowd and climb upwards.
Along the way, Luo suddenly noticed a strange problem. The stone path that they had seen at the beginning of the jungle was paved with gravel and had not been polished. It seemed that the Gorgi people did not have much energy to do this work. However, the stones used here to build the steps were not only huge, but also polished very smoothly. The moonlight reflected on them, and they looked like water, reflecting the sky’s reflection. Luo did not understand why the difference between the two was so great and the contrast so stark. Was it because this high platform was particularly important? Or was it because of some unexpected catastrophe that the Gorgonians had no time to finish building the crisscrossing network of roads and had to leave hastily, leaving behind these crude roads? Although he knew that this would probably remain a mystery forever, Luo San still tried to think about these questions and try to solve these mysteries. Although this may not be important or even related to the secret of the sea eye, thinking about these questions made him not notice his almost powerless legs and made his steps lighter as he climbed the mountain.
But Luo San couldn’t hold on any longer, so he stopped halfway, took a breath, squeezed his already swollen and aching legs, and took the opportunity to look around, hoping to see something. However, it was already dark, and in the darkness, all he could see was the dark jungle.
After a short rest, Luo San continued to walk upwards. However, Professor Wu in front of him stopped complaining and sat down on the steps, pounding his legs while saying to Nan Qingyi, who had already rushed ahead, ‘Nan, this is no way to go on. If we keep climbing like this, I’m afraid no one’s body can take it.’ Seeing that Nan Qingyi wanted to argue back, Professor Wu immediately added, ‘Even if we have enough stamina, but the food…’
Professor Wu suddenly stopped talking, lowered his head, stared at the step under his buttocks with a strange expression, and then his buttocks felt like they had been burned. He jumped up and kept slapping his buttocks.
‘What’s wrong now?’ Nan Qingyi asked impatiently.
‘It’s hot! It’s hot!’ Professor Wu answered while slapping his buttocks and pointing at the stone on the step that he had just sat on.
The pattern of that rock was originally the same as the other rocks on the steps, but now it had turned red, as if it had been burned through, and there was a misty, steaming haze over the red rock, giving it an eerie appearance.
Shen Yuan and Luo San looked at each other, not understanding, and immediately turned their heads towards Professor Wu, wanting to hear what he had to say about the rock.
While the three of them were in a state of shock, patterns began to emerge on the rock. They exchanged glances and immediately excitedly gathered around.
The patterns on the rock were presented in relief, arranged in three rows on the rock, with eight patterns in each row, each pattern different. These patterns were all outlined with simple lines, and it didn’t look like they were scenes or objects. Each pattern didn’t look like a realistic picture, but rather like a character.
‘They look like Chinese characters. Professor Wu, do you recognise any of these characters? Could they be heavenly books?‘ Luo San looked at the patterns but didn’t recognise any of them, so he had to ask Professor Wu.
Professor Wu was staring at the characters on the rock intently, and only turned back to him after Luo San had asked twice, “What did you say?”
’I’m asking you, could these be heavenly books?’ Luo San said patiently.
Professor Wu, unusually serious, said, ‘This is indeed heavenly writing, and I only know a little about it.’
“Then what exactly is it? What do these diagrams mean? Are they related to the sea eye?’
In the face of Luo San’s barrage of questions, Professor Wu did not give a direct answer, but continued, ‘Historians and archaeologists have long had a question: the ancient Shu kingdom created a brilliant civilization. In particular, the Sanxingdui civilization, which lasted from 4,500 to 3,000 years ago, not only left behind huge city ruins, but also an unparalleled bronze culture. Logically, since the ancient Shu kingdom had such a developed civilization, it should have had its own writing system. However, neither documentary records nor archaeological discoveries have ever found evidence of the existence of a writing system in the ancient state of Shu, until the appearance of the Bashu pictographic script. In 1995, more than 60 small square seals were unearthed in Xingjing, Ya’an, Sichuan, which caused a sensation in the archaeological community. These small seals are about an inch square, made of copper, and most are round, while a few are square, rectangular, semicircular, oval, crescent-shaped or in the shape of a mountain. The entire seal weighs only a few grams, and there is a button on the back for threading, making it very easy to carry. Unlike other seals, the face of the seal does not have any writing on it, and only mysterious patterns and symbols are engraved in relief. In fact, long before this, mysterious ‘Ba Shu seals’ of this type have been unearthed in some parts of Sichuan, and they have also been found in Sanxingdui. Experts and scholars call the patterns and symbols on these seals ‘Ba Shu pictograms’. Some speculate that they may be like the bronze inscriptions, and belong to the hieroglyphs left over from ancient times in Sichuan, but no one can decipher them.”
Professor Wu paused for a moment, took a drag on his cigarette, and continued, ’I have been at University S for many years, and I can only recognise one or two of them, and that is just a guess. As for the symbols on this rock, I don’t recognise any of them.’
Luo San and Shen Yuan were feeling disheartened, but at that moment, Feng Yi, who had been lagging behind the others, caught up and glanced at the writing on the rock. Suddenly, he said, ‘I do recognise what the symbols on this mean.’
‘Really?’ Professor Wu asked, clutching Feng Yi’s shoulders as if he had found a treasure. ‘Do you really recognise Bashu pictographic language?’
‘Is this called Bashu pictographic language?‘ Feng Yi said indifferently, “I just know that these are the symbols on a parchment that has been passed down in my family. My skills are all recorded in these symbols, so I know what they mean because I had to learn them as a child.”
’Good, good!’ Professor Wu’s excitement was evident, and he kept saying “good” before he reacted and urged Feng Yi to quickly decipher the text on the rock.
Feng Yi leaned over and stared at the pattern on the rock, and everyone stared at him excitedly and nervously. However, after Feng Yi had only looked at it for a while, he let out a gasp and his face suddenly became grave. He only saw the three lines of the pattern quickly scanned, then looked up and said to the group with a serious expression, ‘Something bad is going to happen.’
‘What?‘ Everyone’s hearts tightened.
’The meaning of the pattern on it is: There is a tribe that is unkind, and our king waged a crusade against it. Although he won, the tribe destroyed Chengdu, and the floodwaters rose thousands of li high. We went through countless hardships to find this land of plenty, and at the same time found this land to build this high platform, so that our people could offer their sacrifices to the almighty sun. However, this caused the wrath of the heavens. Shortly after the platform was completed, the sea level rose again. Although the shamans built a wall to seal off the water, the sea surged skywards and flooded back in, destroying the land of joy. The tribe had to flee in panic. To protect the tribe’s sacred objects from harm, the shamans placed an evil curse before they left: ‘Whoever sets foot on the platform will be swept away by the raging sea and lose everything.’
As soon as Feng Yi finished speaking, the crowd immediately started talking.
‘We have now ascended this high platform, which means that the sea water is about to flood in? Will the entire platform be submerged?’ This was Luo San.
‘Hurry up and put on your diving suit,’ said Nan Qingyi.
‘Chengdu? Chengdu? Mountains bear the sky, and the earth gives birth to springs. Destroy Chengdu, and you will cause a flood of thousands of li. What is the connection between these records? What is Chengdu really?‘ This is Professor Wu, frowning and muttering to himself.
’Since they are worried about the clan’s sacred objects being violated, then the clan’s sacred objects must be at the very top of this platform. We will find out if we go up there.’ This is Shen Yuan.
Feng Yi ignored the din of the crowd and looked into the distance. At this time, the place where they were standing had already left the jungle far below them, and the view was extremely open. He hadn’t paid attention to looking towards the coast just now, but as soon as he glanced there, he let out a cry of alarm, ‘Forget all that useless talk, let’s run up there.’ With that, he took the lead and ran up the cliff at a furious pace.
Although they already sensed the extreme danger, Luo San, Shen Yuan, and Professor Wu still reflexively turned their heads and looked back. At the end of the jungle, the original rock face could no longer be seen, but a waterfall stretched across, almost flush with the dark sky. It looked as if the Milky Way had opened up and the surging water was pouring down. Although it was far away, the faint sound of the water still came. The water pouring down the waterfall converged into a surging flood, rushing towards the depths of the jungle with great momentum. The lush jungle at their feet, which had not yet been submerged by the flood, was now black, and faint sounds of pine needles could be heard. Everyone quickly realised that those were not the sounds of pine needles, but the sounds of a swarm of rats running. In the brief moment when Luo San and the other two looked back, the rats had already rushed straight under the high platform and started to leap towards it.
Without Luo San having to urge them again, this time the group did not hesitate and quickly ran upwards. And beneath their feet were countless giant rats.
The group climbed upwards as hard as they could. After running for a short distance, they looked back and saw that a large group of rats had also rushed to within a few hundred metres of them. The flood had already reached the square where they had been standing, and in an instant it had flooded the entire square. The rats that had not been able to climb onto the high platform were being swept upwards rapidly, wrapped up in the flood. The crowd did not dare to stop, and they quickly ran up the stairs again.
After a while of running, Luo San noticed that Shen Yuan next to him had slowed down significantly and had pulled away from him. He stopped and looked back, but saw that Shen Yuan’s forehead was covered in fine sweat, his face pale, and he was stopping in his tracks, resting one hand on his leg and the other on his chest, gasping for breath.
Luo San walked up to Shen Yuan, half-squatted down and said, ‘Come on, I’ll carry you on my back.’
‘Don’t be silly, how can you carry me on your back when we’re not even on flat ground?’ Shen Yuan firmly refused.
‘No, you have to go, otherwise what are you going to do when those rats charge up?’ Luo San also firmly rejected Shen Yuan’s request.
Shen Yuan looked down and saw that the flood had risen to a distance of less than 40 metres from them, and the rats charging at the front had already run to a distance of less than 20 metres from them.
‘Quick, put on your diving equipment,’ Nanyi shouted to remind everyone.
However, the flood had already risen to a height of less than 3 metres from them, and the group of rats was less than 1 metre away. Luo San was about to continue running a few steps upwards when he heard Shen Yuan scream. He turned his head and saw a group of huge rats pounce on Shen Yuan’s feet. Although the rats were too busy to pay attention to him at the moment, Shen Yuan was still so scared that he jumped and screamed, completely forgetting that he should continue running upwards. Luo San had no choice but to use his free hand to expel the giant rats, but at this time the flood engulfed the two of them before he could react.
At the moment when the flood was about to reach their feet, Luo San held his breath in time and quickly reached out his hand, tightly grasping Shen Yuan’s hand. In the next second, a wave hit, and the two of them slammed into the high platform. Luo San felt only the pain of his bones being broken. Then a current washed them away from the platform, and they were swept helplessly by the waves in the flood. Just as Luo San was worried that the flood would carry him away to an unknown place, he saw a set of steps in front of him. Without thinking, Luo San immediately reached out and grabbed the steps tightly. At the same time, with his other hand, he pulled Shen Yuan to his side, and they were able to stand on the steps at an unknown location on the platform.
However, Luo San soon realised that staying underwater was not an option, so he pointed upwards and pulled Shen Yuan with him as they struggled to swim upwards together. As the current kept carrying them upwards, the two of them were able to rise quickly. Suddenly, Luo San felt a dark patch not far above his head, but he couldn’t see what it was. Just as he was about to take a closer look, the current had already carried them towards this dark patch. When he got closer, Luo San saw that the dark object was moving constantly. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a group of mice. Luo San was so scared that he involuntarily wanted to move away, but he found that there were mice all over his head, densely packed and layered, covering the water surface tightly. There was really no other way, so Luo San had to pull Shen Yuan up to the surface.
‘Xiao Sanzi, over here,’ Professor Wu’s voice shouted from not far away. Luo San turned his head and saw Professor Wu sitting in a car, leaning out the window and waving at him.
The car soon drove over and picked up the two of them. In the car, Shen Yuan could no longer hold back and vomited all over the floor. Luo San waited until Shen Yuan felt a little better before surveying the car in front of him, which was even bigger than a bus: ‘What kind of car is this? How did you drive it down to the ground?’
‘This is a vehicle that I temporarily transferred here after hearing that it was going to come underwater. It is amphibious and most importantly, it can also dive.‘ Nan Qingyi said.
’Your clan is really omnipotent,‘ Shen Yuan said coldly.
’Haha,’ Nan Qingyi laughed, ’Over the past few decades, our clan has been working hard for the source of the Nine Provinces, and we have been able to have our own people in various fields. Today’s incident is just a trivial matter. If we want to start a war, we can. For example, if the Great Tang Empire dares to start a rebellion, we can go to war with them.’
Shen Yuan didn’t say anything else. There was a moment of silence in the car. Luo San looked around, but saw that the flood had submerged the entire land. In the distance, there were boundless waves, and near everyone, the water was black with rats. These rats, which were as big as small pigs, seemed to always know the power of the collective. Each one was linked to the next, so that they all floated on the surface of the water. In the centre of the group of rats was a rat the size of a calf. Under the dark sky, its copper-bell eyes glowed red like torches.
Not all the land was submerged by the flood. Amidst the raging waters, there was a place that had survived, and that was the uppermost platform of the high platform. The flood roared, but it could never rise above the platform, and not a single drop of water could enter the platform. The mice were now tightly surrounding the uppermost platform, but none of them dared to climb onto it.
‘Let’s go up to that platform and have a look,’ Luo San suggested to the others.
The car drove towards the platform and soon arrived in front of it, but from the vehicle, the group could not see clearly what was on the platform.
‘Lower a boat down, I’ll get a little closer to the front. Also, everyone put on their diving equipment in case of an emergency,’ Nan Qingyi commanded, and Nan Yi quickly released a boat onto the water. Luo San and the others put on various equipment and got into the boat.
The dinghy moved a little further towards the platform, and now Luo San could see clearly: the platform was also the size of two basketball courts. It was paved with blood-red rocks, and the surface was as smooth as a mirror. It was blood-red all the way to the eye, and under the starlight of the dark night, the whole platform looked like a pool full of blood, exuding a strange and mysterious atmosphere. Apart from that, there is nothing on the platform. There is nothing around the platform, but it seems like there is an invisible wall. However, everything is stopped outside the wall: the rat pack stops here, the water flow stops here, and now Luo San and the others also stop here.
Everyone just quietly looks at this invisible wall. For a while, no one knows what to do.
‘Puff!’ No one expected Luo San to break the deadlock. After everyone had stared at the air for more than ten minutes, Luo San couldn’t help but spit on the invisible wall. Before anyone could react, the small mouthful of saliva quickly flew towards the platform, and the four of them stared at it without blinking. But just as it was about to cross the invisible boundary, they heard a hissing sound, as if it had hit something extremely hot, and it immediately turned into a puff of smoke.
‘No way, this is so dangerous,’ everyone was shocked. Luo San knew clearly that this incident alone showed that there was hidden danger on this platform. It was impossible for everyone to just charge into the platform like this, and the invisible wall would definitely roast them to death.
Luosan bent down, waved his hand, and heard a creaking sound. A huge rat flew towards the platform. The rat shrieked in the air, and was about to cross the border of the platform when suddenly a rat leaped out of the water and pounced on it like lightning, biting its tail and dragging it down. With a splash, they both fell into the water, and the other rats quickly came forward and bit them, preventing them from sinking. Everyone watched in awe, completely unable to believe that these mice were so loyal to one another. They also gave up on the idea of using these mice for further experiments. But they had no idea what to do next.
Just as everyone was at a loss, they heard the squeaking of mice behind them. They turned around and were instantly terrified. They saw that the mouse, the size of a calf, had somehow gotten behind everyone. Its blood-red eyes were like big bells bloodshot eyes, staring at them intently. Its pointy nose was less than half a metre from their faces, emitting a suffocating stench. A few whiskers next to its nose trembled with each breath it took.
Seeing such a rat suddenly, everyone froze in their tracks, unable to move. Shen Yuan was already afraid of rats, and now she was even more scared, her face pale and her whole body shaking.
The giant rat’s big red eyes slowly rolled, and suddenly it opened its mouth wide and let out a ‘hoo’ sound, exhaling sharply. A stench assailed the nostrils of everyone present, and they all covered their noses. At that moment, the giant rat suddenly stuck its head forward, its big mouth opening and closing. Its two rows of teeth, sharp as knives, closed rapidly, and Luo San’s right hand had already been bitten into the giant rat’s mouth, and it looked as if it was about to be broken in half. Just at that lightning-fast moment, ‘da da da…’ a burst of gunfire sounded, and the people on the side, such as Nan Yi, could no longer hold back and opened fire.
However, no one expected that although the giant rat looked decrepit and its body was large and clumsy, it was extremely agile. Everyone only saw a dark shadow flicker before their eyes and heard a ‘whoosh’ as it disappeared, along with Luo San. Where the giant rat had originally been, there was only a hole left, and the bullets fired by Nan Yi and the others fell into this hole one after the other.
Luo San’s neck was tightly wrapped around the giant rat’s tail, and he was dragged into the water against his will. The giant rat moved so fast that Luo San didn’t even know what was happening. He felt a tightness around his neck, his vision darkened, and his body was pulled downward, disappearing into the water. When he felt the tail wrapped around his neck, he understood that he had been dragged into the water by the giant rat, and that he could be strangled at any time. For the sake of his neck, Luo San dared not struggle, and obediently swam deeper with the giant rat. But Luo San was very puzzled, and he couldn’t figure out what the rat wanted. Why didn’t it strangle him at once, but drag him here underwater? Why him, and not someone else? Having arrived underwater, where did the rat want to go? Why did it grow so big?
The giant rat didn’t care about Luo San’s unanswered questions. It just kept dragging Luo San deeper and deeper. Its huge body was as agile underwater as a small fish. Its head bobbed up and down, its tail swung back and forth, and it advanced rapidly underwater like a torpedo. Its long tail was always curled up, dragging Luo San forward.
Luo San quickly recovered from his initial panic and began to observe his surroundings as the giant rat moved. The giant rat was actually circling, and the centre of the circle was the high platform. The giant rat spiralled down around the high platform, and soon arrived on a huge platform. Luo San could now see clearly that the high platform had three floors, and the current platform was precisely the second floor. On this platform, there were nine sculptures, just like the ones he had seen in the underground hall, only much taller, more than ten metres high.
The giant rat dragged Luo San to a halt on this platform and began swimming towards a place on the platform.
Suddenly, a current of water came from above, carrying tremendous force and rushing towards Luo San. Behind that current of water was a black object more than ten metres long, which was coming at him with lightning speed. Seeing that he was about to collide with the black object, Luo San felt his neck tighten as the giant rat dragged him rapidly downward. The black object just grazed his head, and the current it created hit him in the face, causing him to feel great pain. Luosan noticed that the black object looked dark from a distance, but when he looked closer, it was covered in patterns. What kind of monster was this? Luosan was thinking about this when he suddenly felt his thoughts freeze. Because a few metres ahead, there was a huge plow-shaped head, which was spitting out a long tongue and staring at Luosan with big eyes. Behind this head was a body tens of metres long. It was a giant python, with a body two feet thick and tens of metres long, covered in dull patterns.
Although the python was large, it moved with astonishing speed. Luo San was terrified, and kept thinking about how to escape, but the python was so close to him that he had almost no chance of escape.
The python stared at Luo for a while, shook its head slightly, opened its mouth, and pounced like lightning.
At that moment, there was a loud gunshot behind him. Luo looked up and saw that it was Professor Wu and the others who had chased after him. The only people who came were Professor Wu, Feng Yi, Shen Yuan, and a few clansmen from the Nanqingyi. Nanqingyi and Nanyi did not come down.
The bullet entered the python’s body firmly, and although the python’s skin was coarse and its flesh rough, the bullet only penetrated less than an inch into its body. But this seemed to have thoroughly angered the python. The monster was seen shaking its body non-stop, trying to shake off the bullet stuck in its body, while roaring ‘hiss’ and twisting its head, pouncing on Professor Wu and the others.
‘Wo’ At this moment, a long howl that resounded through the heavens and earth pierced the quiet night sky, coming from the surface of the water. The sound of the howl, like the roar of a dragon and the cry of a tiger, shook the heavens and the earth, and even at the bottom of the deep sea, its sound caused the waves to fluctuate.
The second the python heard the long howl, it twisted its head and, like an arrow, pounced straight for the surface of the water.
The giant rat also left Luo San behind and quickly headed for the surface after hearing the sound.
What was going on? Why did they all run away at the sound? Luo San knew that the sound was the same as the one they heard the day before. Although the sound was not loud, it could be heard from afar.
‘Are you okay?’ Luo San was thinking about this when Shen Yuan, still in a state of shock, asked and swam over.
“I’m fine. What was that sound just now?’
‘I don’t know either,’ Shen Yuan said, and had already swum up to him.
Luo San tried to recall every detail of what had just happened: what the python had done when the sound had come from it. Its long body seemed to tremble slightly, and a trace of fear shone in its eyes, so that it gave up the delicacy that was about to enter its mouth.
As Luo San was thinking, he suddenly felt the water flow under his feet change rapidly. He hurriedly looked down, but saw that the rocks on the platform were now rapidly changing positions. These huge rocks were like a Rubik’s cube being juggled, constantly changing positions. Luo San felt curious and couldn’t help leaning over and swimming downstream. However, as soon as he got close to the platform, he noticed something was wrong. Not all the rocks on the platform were moving in parallel. After moving in parallel to a position, some of them moved up and down, and then continued to move in parallel. These stones moved to form a whirlpool. When he tried to pull himself away, he found that he had already fallen into a whirlpool, swept by the current towards the inside of the platform, and crashed heavily onto an object. Then he was swept by the current and carried deep underwater, while the top of his head had been sealed by a huge rock since he did not know when.
In the darkness, he vaguely saw a lot of huge things moving around him. Luo San was swept horizontally by the current, and he couldn’t help but feel nervous, not knowing where he would go. However, at this time, it was dark all around, and he had no choice but to resign himself to fate. Gradually, Luo San felt a red light appear in front of him. Upon closer inspection, he realised that he was being swept through a long, narrow tunnel by the current, and the red light came from the end of the tunnel. Soon, the current carried him out of the tunnel, and the view opened up before him.
It was a huge cave. Looking up, he could just see the sky, which was as big as the mouth of a well, with a solitary, icy moon hanging in the sky, dotted with a few sparse stars. The walls of the cave were made entirely of brown rocks, but the rocks all gave off a reddish glow, illuminating the entire cave in red. At the bottom of the cave was another deep pool of water, and the water in the pool, reflecting the red light, looked as strange and beautiful as blood. And at that moment, he was floating above the water.
This water is extraordinary. Luo San was thinking when he suddenly felt a force beneath him, supporting him as he rose. Luo San looked down and saw that he was standing on the head of a sculpture. Looking around, he saw that the other eight sculptures on the second platform of the high platform were all standing and slowly rising from the water, gradually floating above the water’s surface. Shen Yuan and the others were all standing safely on the shoulders of the sculptures. Then the water in the cave began to rise. Luo San slowly stood up from the top of the sculpture and looked up, and saw the sky above him getting bigger and closer.
After ten minutes or so, the view suddenly opened up again. The sculpture had risen out of the cave. Luo San looked around. In the distance was a scene of turbulent waves, while in the near distance was a dark mass of giant rats floating on the water. Just below them was the third platform they had been on earlier. The protective shield around the platform seemed to still be effective, as neither the flood nor the giant rats had been able to enter. Nan Qingyi and the others were standing outside, looking at him in surprise.
The sculpture continued to rise, and the dark blue sky was right in front of them. The dark blue of the sky was like water, flowing slowly, calmly and gently. The stars dotted in the water-like sky were so bright, twinkling like the reflection in the water under the night sky. The icy moon was also close at hand, its mercury-like light spilling out into the sky and falling on people, seemingly giving them a sense of coolness. Luo San noticed that the moon here was different from those elsewhere. On the ground, the moon is only a dark shadow in the sky, but here the laurel tree and toad in the moon are clearly visible. Looking at the bright moon in front of him, Luo San felt that his originally chaotic emotions slowly returned to tranquility. In front of him were only the moon, the stars, and the dark blue sky.
The sculpture was still rising, gradually drawing closer to the sky. Luo San slowly reached out his hand, wanting to touch the star that was so close, but when he did, he felt that his hand was cold and empty, and his fingers passed right through the star. Just as Luo San was surprised, the sculpture continued to rise, and it had already reached above his head. The next second, he noticed that his line of sight had gone above the sky.
Chapter 24: Candle Nine Yin
Above the sky was a huge cave. The sky, like a pool of water, formed the bottom of the cave, while the top of the cave was an unknown distance away. Vaguely, one could see small holes distributed above, with light shining in. At the top of the cave were several inverted stalactites, and on these stalactites hovered a snake-like object. The object seemed to be thousands of zhang long, slowly moving between the stalactites. If you didn’t look closely, you could hardly see it moving. The object had a huge, snake-like plow-shaped head, with only one round eye on it, which was one meter in diameter. The round eye was bright and clear, and it was precisely the moon that Luo San saw in the sky. The object was unevenly distributed with some scales, twinkling, which were the stars that dotted the sky. It turned out that the star and the moon just seen on the sky were in fact the reflections of the light from the object on the sky.
This snake-like monster aroused Luo San’s interest, and he began to look closely. He looked along the monster’s head and back, and finally Luo San’s gaze fell on the monster’s head.
After just one look, Luo San covered his mouth in horror: the monster had no tail, and where there would have been a tail, there was another head. And on top of that head was still an eye, only it was closed at the moment.
Suddenly, a distant sound came from midair, as if something had fallen from the cave ceiling. Luo San looked up, but saw a stone falling in midair, making a loud noise as it hit some protruding stalactites along the way. Soon the stone fell, hitting the monster. Although the stone was not large, it had fallen from a great height and caused the monster’s body to shake. It opened its mouth and let out a deafening long howl. With that long howl, a strong wind gushed out of the monster’s mouth, accompanied by ice and bone-chilling cold, and rushed towards the entire cave. Luo San suddenly felt the world and the heavens suddenly grow cold, and his entire body was almost frozen. Immediately afterwards, he was blown up into the sky by that huge gust of wind, and fell from atop the sculpture. In a panic, he reached out and grabbed at everything, finally grasping something that looked like a rope, and only then was he not blown off the dozens of metres high sculpture by the strong wind. But the wind was fierce and seemed to never let up. Although he had a firm grip on the ‘rope’, he was suspended in the air, swaying with the wind. What made him even more frightened was the piercing cold in the wind, which had numbed his hands. He didn’t know how much longer he could hold on. Just then, Professor Wu’s voice came from above him: ‘San-zi, reach up.’
Luo San looked up and saw Professor Wu not far above his head, lying on his stomach and holding out his hand. Luo San reluctantly reached out and was grasped by Professor Wu, who lifted him up.
After standing on the shoulders of the sculpture, Luo San noticed that the ‘rope’ he had just grabbed was actually the tail of a giant rat on the sculpture.
After standing still, Luo San noticed that Feng Yizhou was standing aside, silently looking at the sky, his face growing more and more solemn. Professor Wu told Luo San that just then, after a long howl from a beast in the sky, the stars and moon seemed to suddenly change colour. In particular, the full moon suddenly moved out of position, before quickly returning to its original position. Immediately afterwards, a strong wind blew up from the sky. If the shoulders of the sculpture had not been broad enough, and if they had not been hugging it tightly, they would have been blown up into the air long ago. What was even more strange was that snowflakes suddenly began to fall from the sky, and in the blink of an eye, the whole world, from midsummer to midwinter.
Everyone looked at the snowflakes in the sky and couldn’t help but be dumbfounded. ‘Damn, this crazy weather, how can it snow just like that?’ Professor Wu cursed.
The wind suddenly said, ‘This place is basically another world, so how can we predict the weather here based on the weather on the ground?’
‘You’re right,’ Professor Wu agreed, but he couldn’t help swearing, “The question is how long this damn weather is going to last, and whether we’re going to freeze to death here. By the way, San-zi, what are you gawking at over there?”
Luo San raised his head and tried to peer through the sky to see the monster in the cave above the sky, but all he could see were the stars and the moon, motionlessly hanging in the sky. In other words, the monster had returned to peace. Luo San couldn’t help but remember that the moment the monster raised its head just now, what was underneath its flat head was a human face. That face had all the features, a smile, and looked very strange. This made Luo San feel incredibly terrified, but also curious. In order to understand, he told Professor Wu and the others what he had just seen.
Feng Yi just listened quietly, as if it were none of his business. Professor Wu, however, was excited to hear it. As soon as Luo San finished speaking, he immediately asked, ‘Are you sure that the monster had a snake head, not a human head?’
‘It wasn’t a human head,’ Luo San nodded affirmatively, and then added, ‘It was just a human face under the snake head, in the area of the lower jaw. You could only see it if it lifted its head.’
‘What does the human face look like?‘ Professor Wu’s hands were shaking with excitement.
Luo San had no choice but to patiently describe the human face to Professor Wu again.
’It really is him,’ said Professor Wu, looking up at the bright moon hanging high in the sky after listening to Luo San’s description. He said to himself, ’All this time, I’ve thought it was just a myth, but today in this underworld, I’ve discovered that these myths are our history.’
‘Professor Wu, don’t keep us in suspense, what exactly is that monster?’ Shen Yuan couldn’t help but interrupt and ask.
Professor Wu was not offended, and said with a serious expression, ’If I’m not wrong, that thing is the Candle Nine Yin. The Candle Nine Yin, also known as the Candle Dragon, is also written as the Swift Dragon.’
According to the Shan Hai Jing Da Huang Jing, there is a mountain called Zhangwei Mountain, located beyond the North-West Sea and north of the Red Water. There is a god there with a human face and a snake body, red in colour, straight eyes and riding a dragon. It never sleeps or eats, and its eyes are always open. It is the god of the wind and rain. This is the Candle Nine Yin, also known as the Candle Dragon. Another record in the ‘Book of the Sea’ says: The god of Zhongshan is called Zhuoyin. It regards day as day, sleeps as night, blows as winter, and calls as summer. It does not drink, does not eat, does not rest, and its breath is the wind. It is thousands of li long, in the east of Wushan, and its appearance is that of a human face with a snake body, red in colour, living under Zhongshan Mountain. In other words, Zhu Long is a monster with a human face and a snake body, red in colour, living under Zhongshan Mountain in the extremely cold north. It is very powerful. Whenever its eyes open, the long night becomes day; whenever its eyes close, day turns into night. It can blow the clouds together and cause heavy snow to fall, turning it into winter; and with a breath, it can make the sun burn brightly, turning it into summer. It always crouches there, never eating, never drinking, never sleeping, never breathing, because if it breathes, it will become the long wind.
‘The monster you just saw is slightly different from the description in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, but we can be sure that it is the prototype of the Candle Nine Yin in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. And we can speculate that the eye on the other head is the sun we saw the other day, and the sun, moon, and stars in the underworld are actually the eyes and scales of the Candle Nine Yin.’ Professor Wu paused suddenly when he got to this point, and after thinking for a while, he said, ‘Xiaosan, the Candle Nine Yin is usually unceasing in its roaring, so why did it suddenly let out such a loud roar just now?’
“There seem to be some small holes at the top of the cave, leading directly to the ground. Somehow, a stone fell and hit the monster, the Candle Nine Yin, so it let out a roar.’
‘I see.’ Professor Wu listened thoughtfully, then lowered his head for a long time. When he looked up, he said, ’Xiaosan, do you remember this incident about Diexi Ancient Town? It is said that there are many small holes on the mountainside not far from Diexi Ancient Town. The holes are about the size of a washbasin, and it is not known how deep they are. If you throw a stone into them, thick smoke will immediately rise, straight to the heavens, forming a black cloud. In an instant, hail will fall, and people will often be injured because they cannot avoid it in time. I think those holes are connected to the cave where the Candle Nine Yin is. The strange things that happen when you throw a stone are mostly because the stone lands on the Candle Nine Yin’s body.’
‘Are there really such animals in this world?‘ Luo San’s question was answered, but a bigger question followed.
’Maybe it’s not an animal…’ Before Professor Wu could finish his sentence, everyone heard a long howl coming from beneath their feet. The loud sound shook their eardrums.
Luo San looked down and saw a tens-of-meters-long fish wriggling on the turbulent surface of the water. It raised its huge head and let out a long hiss into the sky. In the sky, another giant python was flying through the sky, passing over Luo San’s head. A few drops fell on Luo San’s hair. He touched it with his hand, and it was slimy and smelled fishy. He brought it close to his eyes and saw that it was a bright red, probably the blood that had dripped from the giant python that had just flown past.
With a ‘pop’, the giant python that had just been flying in the sky fell into the water, splashing up a sky full of water. When the water droplets fell, the surface of the water was already a deep red. The giant python fell into the water, but it did not resurface for a long time. Luo San then turned his head to look at the giant fish that was still swimming on the surface.
This time, Luo San looked clearly. The fish’s head was different from the heads of ordinary fish. It was bulging high above the eyes, and there was also a high bulge where the nose would be. The whole thing didn’t look like the head of a fish, but more like the head of an alligator or a dragon. Thinking of the word dragon, Luo San couldn’t help but look more closely at the fish in front of him. Not only was the fish’s head different from ordinary fish, but the strangest thing was that on either side of its forehead, there were bulges of flesh that looked like two horns. Unlike a dragon, this fish has no whiskers on its head.
At this moment, the dragon-shaped giant fish was above the water, raising its head high and roaring into the sky, as if it knew that beyond the void and watery sky, there was an animal hundreds of times larger than it, gathering the height of the nine heavens and occupying infinite glory.
The moon in the sky did not move at all. Luo San could imagine that upon hearing the roar of the dragon-shaped giant fish, the human-faced monster Candle Nine Yin must have not even raised his head, but continued to slowly move his huge body, as if running like a machine with a long-established program.
Candle Nine Yin’s attitude seemed to anger the dragon-shaped giant fish as well, and it let out an even more fierce roar that resounded through the heavens and earth.
Hearing this sound, Luo San finally understood why the giant python had suddenly abandoned everyone when they were underwater. It turned out that it had heard the roar of the dragon-shaped giant fish and knew that something was amiss, so it hurried over to protect them. It just didn’t expect to be met with the dragon-shaped giant fish’s vicious attack.
Luo San was pondering when he saw the dragon-shaped giant fish suddenly move, let out a painful cry, and finally lowered its head, which had been raised high, and twisted its body with all its might. The huge body slapped the water, sending up a huge wave more than ten metres high. Through the spray, Luo San saw that the giant python, which had disappeared for a while, had appeared again at some point, and was now tightly wrapped around the body of the dragon-shaped giant fish, its blood-filled mouth locked onto the lower jaw of the dragon-shaped giant fish. It turned out that the python knew that it would be difficult to win in a head-on confrontation, so it sank to the bottom of the water and waited until all its wounds had stopped bleeding. Then it submerged itself beneath the dragon-shaped giant fish. At that moment, the dragon-shaped giant fish naturally thought that the python was dead, and its goal was the Candle in the Sky above. So the python took this opportunity to launch a surprise attack and succeeded in the battle.
The fight between the dragon-shaped giant fish and the giant python just now took place underwater, and Luo San and the others did not see it. Now this fight on the surface of the water naturally attracted Luo San’s attention. However, he did not care which side would win at this time. He was concerned about what kind of dragon-shaped giant fish it was.
Thinking about this, he turned to Professor Wu and asked, but even though Professor Wu had read extensively, he had never heard of such a fish. Could it really be a unique product of this underground world? Luo San looked at the two animals fighting in front of him and suddenly thought of the inscription he had just seen on the steps of the high platform. The inscription mentioned that the Shifeng tribe was at war with another tribe. Could the dragon-shaped giant fish be the totem of that tribe? It was very possible.
Luo San’s thoughts were quickly drawn back to the fierce battle in front of him. The waves on the surface of the water in front of him were getting even more violent. The giant python kept constricting its body, wrapping the dragon-shaped giant fish so tightly that it could be heard clicking. The fish was struggling desperately, but no matter how hard it struggled, the python’s body just got tighter and tighter. The wound on the lower jaw of the dragon-shaped giant fish, where the python had bitten it, was getting bigger and bigger, and you could almost see the bone.
At this point, the struggle between the fish and the python had reached a fever pitch. The python’s body was wrapping itself around the dragon-shaped fish tighter and tighter, and had already sunk deep into the dragon-shaped fish’s body. Seeing that the dragon-shaped fish’s body would be broken off, at this moment, the dragon-shaped fish suddenly let out a shocking roar. The sound was different from the long howl the dragon-shaped fish had made earlier, but rather the roar of a beast, like the roar of a tiger. After the roar, everyone suddenly saw the dragon-shaped giant fish suddenly open its mouth wide, and a huge head shot out of its mouth like lightning, biting at the giant python’s seven inches. Immediately, the surface of the water turned red. The giant python’s vital spot was injured, and its mouth immediately loosened, allowing the dragon-shaped giant fish’s jaws to escape, but the giant python’s body did not loosen, but instead tightened even more. The head that was protruding from the dragon-shaped giant fish’s mouth bit harder and harder. The fish and the python fought like this, and finally the python could not hold on anymore, slowly loosening its body, and finally floating helplessly on the surface of the water. The head did not let go, but kept nibbling at the python’s seven inches, until it had nibbled the entire python in half.
‘Ooh!’ The head opened its mouth wide and roared once again at the bright moon in the sky. The face, covered in blood, and the teeth, still stained with the python’s flesh and blood, were chilling to behold. What was even more shocking was that the head actually had a human face: thick eyebrows, closed eyes, a high nose, a wide mouth, the only thing missing were ears.
It was a human face again. Seeing human faces on two monsters in one day was almost too much for Luo San to accept, but everything in front of him was so real that he had no choice but to accept it. Looking at everything in front of him, his head was in a mess. Suddenly, he heard Professor Wu muttering next to him, ‘The Di people live in Jianmu West. They are human-faced and fish-bodied, with no feet…’
Luo San knew that Professor Wu must have remembered the record in the Classic of Mountains and Seas again. Human face and fish body, no feet, this does match some of the characteristics of the dragon-shaped giant fish in front of him. Could it be that this record in the Classic of Mountains and Seas really refers to this dragon-shaped giant fish? Luo San looked at Professor Wu with an expression of consultation. Professor Wu explained, ‘This is a record from the Shan Hai Jing Hai Nan Jing. The Shan Hai Jing records many countries, which were actually tribes. The people in these countries had strange appearances and possessed animal features. In fact, most of these so-called people were portraits of the totems, ancestral gods or clan emblems of these tribes. The image of the Di people recorded in the Shan Hai Jing is also the image of their totem. I originally thought that if these totems could not be seen in reality, like dragons, they were imaginary animals created by our ancestors. But from this fish in front of me, at least the totem of the Di people’s country is real.‘
’Di people? Is it the Di people who founded the Former Qin?‘ Shen Yuan asked.
’It may be a nation, but it may not be,’ Professor Wu said, ‘The Di people in Chinese history books are now generally referred to as the Di and Qiang together. In fact, they should be a separate ethnic group. During the period of the Five Barbarians’ invasion of China, they established several regimes in northern China, including the Former Qin Dynasty founded by Fu, which unified northern China and invaded the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the south for a time. From the available data, it seems that the historical Di people overlapped with the Di people in the Shanhaijing in terms of their range of residence. The Di people are said to have once lived in the Min Mountains, upstream of the Minjiang River, which is the same area as where Diexi is located. The Di people in the Shan Hai Jing also lived in this area. Because the Di people’s country was west of Jianmu, and according to the Huainanzi Zhui Xing chapter, Jianmu was in Duguang. Duguang was the Chengdu Plain, and west of Jianmu was the upper reaches of the Minjiang River. Therefore, some experts and scholars who study the ancient Shu civilization say that the Gorgons are actually the ancestors of the Di people. The shape of a human face and a fish body refers to the fish in front of you.‘
’But you said before that the Gorgons were the Shifeng tribe? How could they be the Di people?’ Luo San asked.
Professor Wu smiled slightly and said, ’At first, I didn’t understand, but now I do. The Gorgon people were not a monolithic group. They were internally divided into the Ten Wind Tribes and the Di People Tribe. Many of the living habits and cultures of these two tribes were the same, but they fought a war over the right to supreme leadership, which ultimately destroyed the paradise where they lived. This forced the Ten Wind Tribe to first establish a settlement here, and then later migrate to the ground. Starting from Diexi, they migrated along the Minjiang River to the Chengdu Plain, and eventually created the Sanxingdui civilization. As for the Geji people who fought the Qiang, most of them were a branch of the Di people. They were also driven away by the Qiang and moved to other places.‘
’I’ve always wondered, since the Geji people were a remnant of a previous civilisation, how they were defeated by the Qiang?‘
’Because the Qiang had the help of the gods.‘
’Are there really gods?’
‘Maybe, or maybe those gods were people from a higher civilisation.‘ Professor Wu said this, then changed the subject, and sighed slightly, “I never thought that the war between these two tribes would extend to the totems.”
’Maybe the war between the totems caused the war between the two tribes,’ Feng said, looking at the dragon-shaped giant fish on the water.
Professor Wu was taken aback by Feng Yi’s words, but he nodded in agreement. ‘Yes, yes, Feng is right. In ancient times, these totems had supreme power. Especially unique totems like the giant python and the dragon-shaped fish, which had supreme power and influence. A war between them might even spark a tribal war…’
‘You’re wrong,’ Feng Yi interrupted Wu Professor coldly. “This is not a war between a python and a fish, it is a war between that fish and the Candle Nine Yin you mentioned.”
Above the water, the head sticking out of the mouth of the dragon-shaped giant fish was tirelessly roaring at the setting moon in the sky at that moment. It seemed that Feng Yi was right, and the enemy of the dragon-shaped giant fish was the high and mighty Candle Nine Yin. However, the Candle Nine Yin did not seem to pay any attention to the dragon-shaped giant fish at all. The bright moon was still hanging in the sky, not moving at all.
Suddenly, the dragon-shaped giant fish roared again, dived into the water with a splash, and disappeared. The crowd looked at each other, confused, and stared at the water, trying to figure out what had happened. But the water was strangely calm, so calm that in the distance, where the water was not covered in rats, the reflection of the moon and stars in the sky could be clearly seen. Shen Yuan suddenly saw the moon waver. At first she thought she was seeing things, but when she looked up at the sky, she saw that the moon had indeed moved again. Had another stone hit Zhu Jiu Yin? Or was Zhu Jiu Yin sensing something unusual?
Shen Yuan was pondering when he suddenly heard the sound of waves behind him. He turned around and saw that a group of fish had suddenly appeared in the water, which was originally full of rats. The rats were obviously unable to contend with the fish in the water and were decimated in no time.
‘There seem to be all kinds of fish in this group. How can this be?‘ Shen Yuan asked in puzzlement.
’The big fish just now was their leader,‘ Feng Yi said lightly, without looking up as he stared at the fish.
’This big fish challenged Candle Nine Yin but failed, so why did it attack the rat group? It looks really unheroic to bully the weak. Even if it leads the fish to eat all the rats, it can’t do anything to Candle Nine Yin,’ Professor Wu said.
Upon hearing Professor Wu’s words, Shen Yuan immediately looked up at the sky, then said, ‘No! The moon is now swaying slightly in the sky, and there is something unusual about Candle Nine Yin.’
Wind One and Professor Wu looked up at the same time and saw that the moon was swaying up and down, left and right, sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, dazzling everyone’s eyes.
‘What on earth is he doing?’ Professor Wu asked.
‘He’s commanding the mice to fight.’ Feng Yi had, without realising it, once again directed his gaze to the surface of the water. At this moment, the situation on the surface of the water had changed. The mice had gone from fighting individually to fighting in unison. Every few mice turned their tails inwards, forming a circle with their heads facing outwards to form a unit of battle. These countless units of battle then formed an even larger unit of battle, and the larger unit of battle then formed an even larger unit of battle. In this way, the fish that had originally invaded the rat pack were quickly divided into individual encircling circles and eliminated one by one. Soon the fish pack was at a disadvantage.
‘There must be more exquisite formations underwater, but unfortunately I can’t see them,’ Professor Wu exclaimed with admiration and regret, ‘This Jiu Yin is really not simple.’
But before he could finish speaking, he noticed that the rat pack was once again in turmoil. It turned out that the huge dragon-shaped fish, which had disappeared from the surface of the water for some time, had suddenly reappeared. It leaped up and down in the water, both above and below the surface. Its body was already huge and unbearable, and once it leaped, it set off huge waves of more than ten metres. For a while, the rat pack had found it relatively difficult to float above the surface of the water. Now, once it was hit, the defensive and offensive formation it had constructed immediately disintegrated. The fish, big and small, took this opportunity to gobble up the rats indiscriminately.
Although Luo San was just sitting back and watching the fight, he felt that the dragon-shaped giant fish was ugly and came from an evil place. He didn’t want it to win. Now that he saw that the rat pack was defenseless again, he couldn’t help but worry secretly. In his anxiety, he couldn’t help but look up at the bright moon in the sky, but it swayed a few times. Then a very faint but piercing sound came to his ears, and in an instant, he saw the rats squeaking and screeching, leaping out of the water one after the other and pouncing on the dragon-shaped fish. They opened their mouths and bit, never letting go once they had a hold. Although the dragon-shaped giant fish was still leaping above and below the water, in a short while it was covered in rats, and almost no skin was visible. Even the human head sticking out of its mouth was now covered in more than ten rats, and although it roared repeatedly, it was helpless.
Seeing this, Luo San smiled, but unexpectedly the dragon-shaped giant fish suddenly swung its body and plunged into the water like an arrow. Professor Wu stared at the water for a long time, but saw that the dragon-shaped giant fish did not reappear. Instead, the bodies of many rats floated on the surface, but each had its intestines torn out and its stomach ripped open, apparently killed by the fish in the water. I think all the rats on the dragon-shaped giant fish must be dead by now. As Luo San pondered, he saw the schools of fish that had been fighting with the rats suddenly scatter in all directions. The rats on the surface of the water were wondering why the fish had retreated when they suddenly felt a huge suction force from the water below them. They were helplessly caught up in the current and swept into the whirlpool. Everyone looked at each other, wondering what had happened. However, they saw that the whirlpool dissipated in no time, and a current rushed out of the water. A large number of mice flew into the air with the current, only to fall back down and float on the water’s surface, rising and falling with the waves. They were obviously dead. Then the whirlpool appeared in another place, and a large number of mice were sucked into it again.
Seeing this, Luo San finally understood that the whirlpool was the work of the dragon-shaped giant fish. It had eaten its fill of the rats on the surface of the water and now simply hid underwater to launch attacks, leaving the rats with nowhere to go. Luo San couldn’t help but curse inwardly, but there was nothing he could do. He could only watch as the number of rats on the surface slowly dwindled.
While the dragon-shaped giant fish was wreaking havoc, the fish swarm followed closely behind to clean up the battlefield, devouring all the remaining mice. In no time at all, there were very few mice left on the surface of the water. The dragon-shaped giant fish leapt out of the water and swam towards the platform.
Everyone’s attention had been focused on the battle between the fish and the rats, and they hadn’t noticed that the tenth platform had undergone a subtle change. The water level on the platform had originally been lower than outside, but now the water inside and outside was now at the same level, and the platform was covered with the corpses of rats and fish. The invisible wall had disappeared!
Sure enough, the dragon-shaped giant fish swam to the front of the platform, paused for a moment, and then immediately leaped, as if it were unopposed, and its huge body entered the platform. At this time, the platform was all water except for a circle of rocks around the outside. The nine sculptures were just floating on the water. The dragon-shaped giant fish’s leap was astonishingly powerful. The sculpture that Luo San and the others were standing on was suddenly knocked over by the dragon-shaped giant fish, and it collapsed with a loud noise. The group was caught off guard and suddenly lost their footing, sliding off the sculpture and falling straight into the water.
Chapter 25: The Sun in the Sky for Ten Days
When Luo San floated to the surface, he looked around, but saw only Professor Wu and the others, but no Shen Yuan. Without thinking, Luo San dove into the water and looked around, finally seeing Shen Yuan not far away, desperately trying to swim upstream, but she seemed to have cramps. Luo San hurriedly swam to her and supported her as she floated to the surface.
After settling Shen Yuan, Luo San noticed that the huge dragon-shaped fish was rapidly heading downstream.
‘I’ll go take a look,’ Luo San said, without waiting for anyone to stop him, and dived into the water again. Holding his breath, Luo San descended rapidly. All he could see were the crimson rocks on the walls, which made the water in front of him look the same shade of red. As Luo San adjusted his body to swim faster towards the depths, he inadvertently glanced at the sun in the sky. Looking at the sun in the sky through the blood-red water and the platform like a well mouth was already a special experience, but what Luo San saw greatly exceeded his expectations. The sun in the sky looked the same in the water as it did from the ground, except that in the middle of the sun was a black bird. The sun was surrounded by ten thousand rays of light like a fiery ball, but in the middle was a black bird, which was obviously out of place. That bird, Luo San knew, was a crow, and it was a three-legged crow.
‘Three-legged crow?’ Luo San suddenly thought of this phrase. Luo San knew a little about ancient myths, and he knew the ancient saying, ‘In the sun there is a three-legged crow, and in the moon there is the essence of a toad.’ However, he had only ever seen the modern explanation of ‘a three-legged crow in the sun’ as sunspots in textbooks. Therefore, he never paid attention to this myth, and he never thought that he would actually see the three-legged crow in the sun here today. Luo San thought that the sculpture he just saw was holding a circle in his hand, and there was a three-legged crow in the middle. At that time, Professor Wu was also surprised that this myth from the Central Plains appeared here. Now it seems that this so-called legend from the Central Plains culture may have spread from here. He just doesn’t know how many more surprising things there are in this place.
Just as he was rambling on, the huge dragon-shaped fish disappeared from view. Luo San looked around three or four times, but suddenly the dragon-shaped fish came out of the shadows and bit at him. Without a second thought, Luo San immediately fired several shots at the dragon-shaped giant fish’s head. The dragon-shaped giant fish dodged the attack with a flash, but it was still wounded. The intense pain immediately aroused the dragon-shaped giant fish’s anger, and it roared, once again pouncing at Luo San. However, the dragon-shaped giant fish suddenly stopped moving, looked up at the sky, a flash of panic in its eyes. Its huge body hurriedly turned away, shaking its head and tail as it swam like an arrow to the depths. Luo San quickly reached out and grabbed the fin of the dragon-shaped giant fish, and his body leaped forward, landing on the dragon-shaped giant fish’s body.
As the dragon-shaped giant fish sped forward, Luo San looked up at the sky, but saw that at some point, ten suns had appeared above the small well-like sky. The ten suns were all standing above the sky like fiery balls, and even though there was so much water between them, the intense light shining down was still quite strong. There was a bird in each of the ten suns. It was too far away to see what kind of bird it was, but the birds in the ten suns were arranged vertically, as if they were ten birds perched in the trees.
Luo San knew that in the excavation of Sanxingdui in earlier years, a bronze sacred tree had been discovered, and ten birds were standing on the tree, just as Luo San saw today under the water. Experts and scholars studying the ancient Shu culture all believe that this bronze sacred tree is the mythical Fuso sacred tree from ancient Chinese mythology. The Fuso sacred tree is located in the middle of the East China Sea, and the sun rests on it. Every day, the sun sets and rises from east to west across the sky, before returning to the sacred tree after sunset. In the past, everyone thought that this explanation could indeed explain the strange shape of the bronze sacred tree, but they never imagined that the prototype of the bronze sacred tree was actually the scene seen underwater when the sun was in the sky for ten days.
What was happening on the surface? Were Shen Yuan and the others okay? Luo San got in touch with Professor Wu on the surface via the equipment.
It turned out that after Luo San entered the water, the protective cover of the platform suddenly failed, and Professor Wu and the others joined forces with Nan Qingyi and Nan Yi and stayed in the small boat. After a while, Professor Wu suddenly felt his whole body beginning to warm up. He knew that it must be the work of Candle Nine Yin, so he looked up at the sky. He didn’t know when the moon had set in the west. In the east, a red sun had risen. At that moment, a long howl like a dragon’s roar came from the sky. After the howl passed, the cold and dampness disappeared, and the weather suddenly changed from midwinter to midsummer. It was still early in the morning in midsummer, and the weather was not very hot. However, the coolness was much more comfortable than the cold of last night.
‘It’s finally warm,’ said Professor Wu, before he saw the nine sculptures that had been floating on the water beneath his feet suddenly leave the water and quickly rise into the air. Even when they reached the sky, they did not stop, and in a moment they had all disappeared into the sky.
‘What the hell is the Nine Yin of Candlelight up to now?’ Professor Wu looked at the red sun in the sky and muttered to himself.
After the nine sculptures disappeared into the sky, they were no longer visible. Everyone could only see that there was only one red sun in the sky. At first, the light was weak, but it suddenly burst into ten thousand rays, directly dazzling the two people’s eyes and causing their bodies to heat up from the sun.
‘Damn it,’ said Professor Wu, wiping the sweat that had already started to appear on his forehead, “this damned weather changes faster than a woman’s face.”
Feng Yi ignored Professor Wu and just held up a hand to indicate that Wu should stop talking, while his eyes were fixed on the sky. Professor Wu followed the gaze of Wind Yi and saw that in the sky, apart from the round, red sun, there were actually a few faint, disc-like objects. At first glance, they looked like the clouds that had appeared in the winter sky in Chengdu, but they were dull and featureless, like the sun.
‘What are these things?’ Professor Wu asked.
‘The sun,’ said Wind Yi, his tone still so flat, but to Professor Wu it sounded a little panicked.
‘What’s wrong? Brother Feng, is there something wrong with this sun…’ Just as he asked this question, Professor Wu noticed that the originally very faint, very faint disc had now turned into a golden, shimmering sun, also hanging high in the sky. He roughly counted and found that, together with the original sun, there were now ten suns in the sky. And these ten suns all shot out scorching rays of light, illuminating the boundless sea surface and immediately causing a burst of water vapour to rise.
In less than a minute, Professor Wu felt as if all the moisture in his body had been baked away, and he was hot and thirsty. The hair on his head and eyebrows gave off a burnt smell and turned to ashes under the glare of the ten suns.
‘Quick, hide under the water,’ the wind shouted at him as Professor Wu was at a loss as to what to do.
Professor Wu looked at the reflection of the ten suns in the water and then at his own skin, which was a deep red from the sunburn. He let out a cry of anguish, immediately climbed onto the raft and dove into the water. Even though the water was no longer cold, it was at least better than exposing his body to the ten suns.
But even though they were hiding in the water, they still felt the skin on their entire body burning with pain. The whole person felt dizzy and dry from the sun. Professor Wu occasionally buried his entire body in the water and only looked up after a while. But every time he looked up, he noticed that the sun’s rays were even more scorching than before. ‘I finally understand how miserable it was for the unfortunate Emperor Yao when there were ten suns in the sky. Alas! I never thought that I would be able to see ten suns in the sky one day in my life, and even if it means dying, it would be worth it,’ lamented Professor Wu. Unexpectedly, Fengyi took up the conversation beside him and said, ‘Death is certain. This time, we definitely won’t be able to get out alive.’
‘Why do you say that?’ Professor Wu had only said it casually, but he didn’t expect Fengyi to give him a death sentence, and his heart trembled.
Fengyi reached out to wipe the sweat from his forehead, dove into the water, and drank to his heart’s content before looking up and saying, ‘Ten days and ten suns, burning everything, including the jade and the stone.’ After saying this, Fengyi sighed and didn’t say anything else.
Professor Wu didn’t quite understand, so he asked again, ‘What’s the origin of this saying?’
Feng answered without looking up, ‘It was said by the clan’s shaman…’ Feng Yi told Professor Wu that shortly before his death, the last shaman of the Qiongdu tribe, after teaching Feng Yi’s ancestor everything he had learned in his life, repeatedly told Feng Yi’s ancestor that they must wait in the peaceful valley for generations, waiting for the descendants of the Enlightened tribe to come and search for the secret of the sea together. The shaman told Fengyi’s ancestor that there was only one circumstance under which they could give up waiting: when the sun and moon were in alignment and everything was destroyed, because in that case, no one would ever know the secret of the sea eye.
‘Why?’ Professor Wu’s voice suddenly raised an octave. If the secret of the Sea Eye could never be known, then the people of the Enlightened Race would never see the light of day.
Feng Yi glanced at Professor Wu, his eyes rarely showing a hint of pity. Helplessly, he said, ’I don’t know why either. Maybe it means that when ten suns appear in the sky at the same time, everything will be destroyed, including the secret of the Sea Eye, which will be destroyed forever.’
‘Ten days and ten suns, everything will burn up, ten days and ten suns, everything will burn up.’ On the walkie-talkie, Professor Wu was still mumbling to himself, his voice full of desolation, and Luo San felt a pang of sadness. Luo San comforted himself and continued on. After a while, Professor Wu’s voice came over the walkie-talkie again: ’Xiaosan, look at the sky.’
The scene in the sky had changed again. The tree with the birds perched on it was gone, replaced by a huge ball of fire. Around the ball of fire were nine three-legged crows, circling it and spinning non-stop.
‘What’s happening on the water?’ Luo San couldn’t help but ask.
Shen Yuan told Luo San that it turned out that just now the ten fireballs in the sky quickly changed positions, gradually coming together. No matter which direction you looked from the ground, the ten suns had merged into one sun, except that this sun was more than twice as large as the original sun. Once the ten suns had gathered, their light also immediately converged in one place. Tens of thousands of beams of scorching light converged into a beam, directly shining onto the third platform, while the rest of the place was only illuminated by some residual light. The originally blue and pure sky slowly turned dark green, and at some point, large patches of dark clouds appeared, covering most of the sky. The temperature suddenly dropped, and the suffocating heat from earlier was gone. The occasional cool breeze brought a pleasant coolness.
“I originally thought that the saying “ten days in the sky, burning everything” must refer to ten suns appearing at the same time, drying up everything in the world,’ Professor Wu suddenly interrupted, ‘But now that there is only one sun, and its light is concentrated in one place, I don’t know what will happen, so you have to be careful. Oh no, there’s been another change,’ said Professor Wu, suddenly exclaiming.
It turned out that in just a few seconds, the world was dark again. The dark blue sky was tinged with black, like a gloomy dusk. Amidst the darkness, only the round sun, like a blazing fireball, hung high in the sky. The light from the sun was strangely concentrated into a beam, like a giant flashlight, shining directly onto the water’s surface. The water hit by the beam quickly evaporated and misted up, and the surrounding area was extremely hot. However, outside this area, the temperature was extremely low, and gusts of cold wind brought a chill. Everything between heaven and earth was tinged with a sense of the strange. It was as if it were a harbinger of the imminent destruction of the entire world.
“Xiao… Xiaosan… how do you feel underwater? You…be careful…‘ Shen Yuan admonished.
Luo San suddenly felt Shen Yuan’s voice tremble a little. “Shen Yuan, what’s wrong?”
’Nothing…nothing, I just feel cold.”
It turned out that the light beam had shrunk again, becoming even smaller than the diameter of the round sun in the sky. Although it was dazzling and made it impossible to look at it, it seemed that the light and heat were concentrated in one place, and the chill between heaven and earth was immediately palpable.
After listening to the two men’s introduction, Luo San knew that the situation was critical. He also felt that the giant dragon-shaped fish was going like lightning, sometimes turning left and right underwater, sometimes rising, sometimes surging downward. This high platform was not a completely hollow setting. There were many passages and spaces inside, densely packed together like a maze. The giant dragon-shaped fish was shuttling through these passages and spaces.
The dragon-shaped giant fish seemed extremely anxious, and its speed was getting faster and faster. Unconsciously, Luo San felt his body burning up as well. Burning up? Luo San suddenly felt that something was wrong. Even if his body was getting hotter, it was impossible for him to feel this hot underwater. This burning sensation was caused by the surrounding water. The water around him had become hot! Luo San had seen before the scene of ten suns gathering together and shining directly into the water, but he had not expected the sunlight to be so strong, strong enough to bake so much water. Luo San now understood why the dragon-shaped giant fish was so nervous. It had long since known that when the ten suns appeared in the sky, the water in it would boil, so it wanted to achieve its goal before the water was boiled. Just what was its goal?
After passing through a wide tunnel, the dragon-shaped giant fish twisted its body and turned right, but after advancing a certain distance, it stopped at an intersection. Ahead were the entrances to three parallel passages. The dragon-shaped giant fish hesitated for a moment and entered the entrance to the passage on the right. This was almost a vertical downward passage, and the dragon-shaped giant fish was even more like an arrow leaving the string and like thunder in such a passage.
It’s hot. The water around him was already very hot, burning his skin with a slight pain. Although this was not enough to cause harm to the human body, Luo San was worried that it would not be long before the water was hot enough to roast him along with the dragon-shaped fish. Thinking about this, he hoped that the dragon-shaped fish would speed up.
The passage was dark, and Luo San could only vaguely see a dark object in front of him. The dragon-shaped fish’s body slowed down for a moment, and its speed suddenly slowed down. Luo San soon understood why the dragon-shaped giant fish suddenly slowed down. The channel in front of him was no longer filled with water, but was instead filled with a dark mass that occupied the entire channel. The dragon-shaped giant fish was doing its best to squeeze its body into the dark mass, but it seemed to be having a hard time doing so. It took a long time to squeeze in just a small part of its body, and its huge tail kept swinging outside, sending up huge waves. Wave after wave came, and although Luo San did not fall off the dragon-shaped giant fish, he was also tossed around and became dizzy.
After a while, most of the dragon-shaped giant fish’s body had entered the black object, and the waves finally subsided. Luo San also came to the black object, and only then did he see clearly that the black object was slimy to the touch, with soft, sticky tentacles, which were obviously silt.
At first, Luo San did not understand why this silt would make the giant dragon-shaped fish so difficult to move. But once he tried it, he immediately understood the reason. This soft, slimy silt was actually incredibly tough, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not get even half an inch into it. Fortunately, he was lying on the giant dragon-shaped fish, and could use its strength to pass through this opening.
The dragon-shaped fish was still struggling to move forward. Its mouth was wide open, and the strange human head sticking out of it was quickly devouring the mud in front of it, creating a path for itself. Then it flapped its fins, wriggled with difficulty, and moved forward. The thick mud slowly closed in around it, and the mud in front of it seemed to have no end. The dragon-shaped giant fish had swallowed a lot of silt, and its entire belly was bulging. It was getting more and more difficult to move forward in the silt, which was closing in faster and faster. It looked as if the silt was about to completely engulf the dragon-shaped giant fish’s huge body, but then the monster suddenly let out a loud roar that shook the heavens and earth. Amidst the roar, it kept writhing its body, and gradually, its four claws emerged from its belly. With claws, the dragon-shaped giant fish immediately swung its four sharp claws, propped up its huge body, and quickly moved forward.
With its four sharp claws, the dragon-shaped giant fish finally poked its head out of the silt layer. In front of it was a wide passage. The passage was empty, with nothing in it, not even water.
The dragon-shaped giant fish opened its huge mouth, and countless black clods of mud were spat out of its mouth. After spitting out all the mud in its stomach, the dragon-shaped giant fish began to prepare to run forward. However, just as its claws snapped onto the ground of the passage, a series of clicks sounded in the long, dark passage. Amidst the sound, the walls of the passage, which had originally been incredibly hard and complete without a single crack, gushed forth countless streams of fiery lava, flooding the entire passage.
The lava began to rush towards the dragon-shaped giant fish, and the scorching heat turned everything around it into a light mist. The dragon-shaped giant fish was not fazed in the slightest, and opened its mouth wide. A jet of cold water spurted out, surging like a huge wave towards the lava. After a hissing sound, the entire tunnel was filled with a thick mist, and the scorching heat dissipated. At the same time, the huge human head of the dragon-shaped giant fish poked out of its mouth, and a loud roar shook the water mist and made it retreat. Then there was a ‘whoosh’ sound, and a jet of black substance shot out of the human head’s mouth, passing through the water mist and spreading over most of the cooled lava on the surface. In no time, it formed a path. The dragon-shaped giant fish immediately stepped forward, and the jet of black substance from its mouth continued to shoot out, and in no time it had passed through the lava tunnel like a bird.
Luo San followed closely behind, and at the end of the lava tunnel, there was no tunnel, but an expanse of ocean. The ocean was calm and peaceful, with a few seagulls occasionally gliding across the surface. Above the ocean, there was a piece of land. The land is covered in dense forests, with thick shade and lush vegetation of all kinds. Elephants and other animals roam in herds through the jungle, while a group of people with high noses and bulging eyes, and shoulders that stick out, are working on the land. Above the sea, there is also a group of people with high noses and bulging eyes, and shoulders that stick out, working on the sea, rowing boats and fishing. In the sky hangs a fiery ball, and in the centre of the ball is a crow with three claws…
Luosan noticed that the dragon-shaped giant fish had stopped and was silently watching everything in front of it, looking at the ocean, the land, every drop of water in the ocean, and every grain of soil on the land. After a long time, it sniffed the water in the ocean, then looked up and sniffed the air in the sky. It looked up, opened its eyes wide and looked at the round sun in the sky, and a flash of excitement suddenly appeared in its eyes. The strange human head also poked out of the mouth of the giant fish, and a smile of relief appeared on the terrifying face. After a long time, the dragon-shaped giant fish leaped into the water with a splash, swimming with its head shaking and its tail waving. Sometimes it swam like an arrow to the depths of the water, and sometimes it rushed out of the water like a flying fish. After a while, the dragon-shaped giant fish began to swim to the depths of the water, staying quietly under the water, motionless, as if it were asleep.
Luosan watched all this and always felt very strange. At the moment when the dragon-shaped giant fish seemed to fall asleep, he finally understood that all they had encountered along the way were the great arrays set up by the Ten Wind Clan. First it was the mud, then the rocks, and now the dragon-shaped giant fish should be encountering jade. What he had just seen should be the hometown of the dragon-shaped giant fish transformed from jade. He just couldn’t figure out why he could see something that was only supposed to be seen by the dragon-shaped giant fish.
Suddenly, the dragon-shaped fish woke up as if from a dream and tried to swim away, but found that it could no longer move. At that moment, the vast ocean disappeared, and what appeared before Luo San was still a wide passage. Inside the passage were a few ivory tusks arranged in a strange formation. In the centre of the passage was a huge, translucent and crystal-clear jade stone. The dragon-shaped giant fish and he were now in the middle of the jade stone, completely integrated with it, as if they had always been in it. The dragon-shaped giant fish was trapped and unable to move a muscle. The human head that protruded from its mouth was frozen in place with a terrified expression.
Everything seemed to have come to a standstill. Luo San noticed that the only thing that had changed was the body of the dragon-shaped fish, which was quietly changing colour. The original colour of the dragon-shaped fish’s body was green, but now it looked as if it had been dyed, and the colour was slowly fading away with the water oozing out of the dragon-shaped fish’s body. As more and more water oozed out of the dragon-shaped fish’s body, the whole body gradually turned grey, and then from grey to white. The water did not gather around the dragon-shaped fish, but seeped into the jade. In no time at all, the entire jade was covered with large and small stripes and bubbles. At that moment, the dragon-shaped fish made a sudden effort, and the entire jade suddenly fell apart. The dragon-shaped fish struggled out of the jade and immediately took four paws and ran forward, walking with great anxiety.
Around the corner was another passage. It was empty.
The dragon-shaped giant fish took a gentle step, and was about to take the second step when a gust of wind suddenly blew up from the flat ground. The dragon-shaped giant fish, with a body length of tens of metres, was also caught up in the wind and thrown into the air, tumbling backwards, and finally crashing heavily onto the ground with a loud bang. Cracks appeared on the surface of the hard rock passage. This fall was not easy for the dragon-shaped giant fish either. Its huge body struggled for half a minute before it slowly stood up, and its huge human head stuck out of its mouth, emitting a shrill roar. The dragon-shaped giant fish then dug its four claws deep into the rocks in the ground and slowly walked forward step by step. The wind was still strong, but this time the dragon-shaped giant fish was prepared. The wind only made it move slowly, but it could not blow it away again. A few minutes later, it passed through the passage.
Ahead was a circular hall, incredibly vast, measuring tens of thousands of square metres, all built from huge stones. The dome of the hall was hundreds of metres above the ground and was also made from rocks. On the dome were painted in different directions soil, rocks, jade, ivory, three-legged crows, wind, carvings, rats, snakes, etc. In the centre of the dome, however, was a pattern with a circle in the middle like the sun, surrounded by birds.
In the main hall, there are all kinds of objects piled up, stone bells, stone drums, stone bowls, stone basins, stone knives, stone axes…in short, all kinds of stone tools for production and life, almost piled up in every corner of the main hall; in the main hall, there are also piles of jade cong , jade zhang and all kinds of jade ware, piles upon piles of ivory… The most numerous are all kinds of sculptures, standing people, sitting people, people with their hands raised above their heads, people with their hands placed in the centre of their foreheads, and all the statues, without exception, have high noses and bulging eyes.
For The dragon-shaped giant fish paid no attention to any of this and quickly strode towards the centre of the hall. The centre of the hall was empty, but the dragon-shaped giant fish strode straight towards it, hurrying along. After a few strides, it was close to the centre of the hall, where a small box stood out so prominently. The box was made of stone, only about a foot square, and the surface was covered with crude patterns that looked like words or figures. The box was less than three metres from the dragon-shaped giant fish. A hint of joy flashed in the dragon-shaped giant fish’s eyes, its mouth opened wide, and a strange human head poked out of its mouth and pounced at the box like lightning. At that moment, a beam of light shot down from the ceiling of the hall. The human head was caught off guard and the beam of light pierced its neck. ‘Ow!’ The human head let out a painful howl, but it did not dodge and pounced at the box.
That light beam was actually emitted from the round sun in the sky, except that at this time the beam formed by the round sun had been condensed to the thickness of a chopstick, was extremely hot, and was still dazzling after penetrating thousands of metres of deep water and rock formations. The light seemed to have a mind of its own. It did not dodge the injured human head, but immediately turned towards the box in the centre of the hall. The dragon-shaped giant fish seemed to have anticipated this, and its huge body leapt forward, blocking the box. At the same time, the human head bent down to the belly of the dragon-shaped giant fish, picked up the box in one bite, and then retracted into the fish’s mouth like lightning. At that moment, the burning light beam had already penetrated the body of the dragon-shaped giant fish, creating a large hole in the ground. The dragon-shaped shook, braced itself on all fours, and soared into the air, fleeing in the opposite direction. However, after missing its target, the beam of light shot back up and hit the strange pattern in the centre of the ceiling of the hall. The beam of light, as thick as a pair of chopsticks, hit the centre of the pattern and immediately began to fill the entire pattern like water flowing along the lines of the pattern. The ancient pattern, because of the injection of light beam, radiated with brilliance. The round shape in the centre was like the sun, emitting dazzling light and illuminating the entire hall. The birds around the pattern also seemed to come to life at this time, rapidly circling the central round shape. As this pattern rotated, countless light beams seemed to be flung out, injecting into each pattern on the dome. For a moment, all the patterns on the dome were shining brightly.
This happened in less than a second, but in that short period of time, the dragon-shaped fish had already leaped hundreds of metres. However, it did not manage to escape the hall successfully, as a pillar of light shot out from the circle in the centre of the pattern on the dome, enveloping the exit of the hall under a blazing light pillar; the nine birds surrounding the circle suddenly broke away from the dome and pounced on the dragon-shaped giant fish like arrows. Although it deftly sidestepped the attacks on its vital spots, it still had nine holes in its body. The wounds were burned by the light beam and there was no blood at all, but the dragon-shaped giant fish’s violently shaking body showed the pain he was suffering. But that’s not how it ended. The nine birds turned around and flew back, swooping at the dragon-shaped giant fish. At the same time, all the patterns on the dome above the fish detached from the stone wall and, with dazzling light, swooped at the dragon-shaped giant fish.
The dragon-shaped was completely enraged. It roared and took a few steps towards the exit of the hall, ignoring the burning attacks in front of it. Mud, stone, jade, ivory, and gale force wind passed through the body of the dragon-shaped fish, but it didn’t care, just taking big strides towards the exit of the hall. The was just a few dozen metres in front of him, and it only took two steps to cross it. However, at that moment, the silver-glowing snake swam around on the ground for a while before suddenly wrapping itself around the body of the dragon-shaped giant fish; the huge eagle circled once around the dome before swooping down with its sharp beak and talons at the dragon-shaped giant fish’s head; and the giant rat bit down hard on the dragon-shaped giant fish’s lower jaw. But The dragon-shaped fish still struggled to take a step forward, until the three-legged crow cut across its neck with dazzling heat. With a loud bang, the dragon-shaped fish’s huge head fell off its neck and crashed to the ground, and its huge body also collapsed with a loud bang, hitting the beam at the exit of the hall and sending up a pungent smell of burning.
Like lightning lightning, a dark shadow shot out from the dragon-shaped giant fish’s headless neck and quickly fled down the passage. It was a snake, nearly 20 metres long and a foot thick, but it had a human head, and the human head was holding a box in its mouth.
In the all the patterns quickly left the body of the dragon-shaped giant fish, gathering like thunder and crashing into an almost unnoticeable bulge in the northwest corner of the hall. A few seconds later, a loud boom came from the top of the hall, followed by another loud noise like thunder. The hall shook violently, and finally the dome of the hall cracked open, and countless boulders crashed down…
Chapter 26: A human head and a snake body
When the began to collapse, Luo San turned around and started running back the way he came. He knew that if he wanted to avoid being smashed to a pulp in the rain of falling boulders, there was only one safe place, and that was the quagmire. If he could burrow into the mud, he might stand a chance.
The passage outside the hall was also beginning to show signs of collapse, but since the passageway was larger than the hall, the rocks had not yet started to fall. Luo San ran quickly with Shen Yuan in his arms, finally reaching the muddy swamp.
In front of the muddy swamp Before the slime formation, the slime exhaled by the dragon-shaped giant fish was slowly merging with the slime formation to form a single mass. There was only a small hole in the middle, and Luo San, holding Shen Yuan in his arms, managed to squeeze into it with difficulty. In a short while, all the slime gathered and covered his entire body. Fortunately, he reached out and pushed open a small hole in the slime, so that he could barely breathe. Just at that moment, the boulders fell one after the other, crashing onto the mud, but Luo San only felt a slight pressure. Luo San secretly felt relieved, thinking that he had finally escaped. But then he realised that the mud had wrapped itself tightly around his body, and that his hands and feet could not move an inch. It was almost impossible for him to get out of the mud. couldn’t help but become anxious. At that moment, he felt that he was having difficulty breathing because he was trapped in the mud. No, I have to think of something immediately. Luo San was anxious, and he tried his best to break free from the mud, but no matter how hard he struggled, his hands and feet could not move at all. Gradually, Luo San felt that he was losing consciousness.
After an unknown period of time, he heard a voice with a hint of crying in the distance shouting, ‘Xiaosan, are you here? Xiaosan Are you there? Answer me, answer me quickly.‘
’I’m here, Shen Yuan, I’m here.’ Luo San wanted to speak, but he simply couldn’t.
And it was here that he heard Professor Wu shouting, “Girl, it’s no use like this, come back quickly, we’ll think of another way.” However, it seemed that Shen Yuan hadn’t heard Professor Wu’s words, and she was still shouting, “Xiao Sanzi, answer me quickly. Xiao Sanzi…”
Hearing Shen Yuan’s voice, Luo San felt a pang of heartache, his veins suddenly bulging. He shouted, and the mud around him quickly dried up and became powerless. In the end, Luo San made a slight effort and the mud cracked in half.
Having emerged the quagmire, Luo San looked around and saw that the towering floodwaters had completely receded, the high platform had turned into a pile of ruins, and the tens of thousands of square metres of area was strewn with boulders as high as a hundred metres. Shen Yuan, Professor Wu, Feng Yi, Nan Qingyi and the others were not far ahead, but none of them had noticed what had happened here until Luo San greeted them.
“Little San’ heard Luo San’s voice, and Shen Yuan turned around and stared for a moment, immediately screaming and rushing forward, hugging Luo San and crying and laughing. Luo San was at a loss, while not far away, Professor Wu and Feng Yi were staring at him with evil grins on their faces, making him even more embarrassed, and he didn’t know what to do with his hands. After a long time , Shen Yuan’s mood finally calmed down a little. Luo San patted her back gently and whispered in her ear, ‘Professor Wu and Feng Yi are both looking at us.’ Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan immediately flinched as if she had been electrocuted, reached out to wipe away the tears on her face, and with her usual cold expression, she said to Luo San, ‘What on earth happened to you just now? How did you come out of here?’ Her words revealed her concern.
Luo San hadn’t answered Shen Yuan’s question yet, Professor Wu rushed over: ‘San-zi, you’re lucky, so many rocks fell and you’re still intact?’
‘Luckily, I just hid in this mud. And you?’
‘We?’ Professor Wu waved his hands repeatedly, ‘Luckily, luckily, staying on this car, we didn’t suffer any damage.’
‘What were you looking for?’
‘Looking for you,’ Professor Wu said.
“No sorry to have worried you,‘ Luo San said, and told Professor Wu and the others about his experience underwater.
’You mean there was a box?‘ Professor Wu asked as soon as Luo San had finished speaking.
’Yes?‘
’What kind of box?‘
’I don’t know, but the dragon-shaped fish went to get it, so it must be a box with some kind of secret.‘
’Where is it now?”
Luo San looked around and roughly pointed in a direction.
That was the direction the human-headed snake-bodied monster fled. Luo San just didn’t know if the human-headed snake-bodied monster had been buried under the boulder or had escaped to heaven. However, Fengyi quickly gave him the answer, because he was holding a box in his hand, which was covered in indistinct flesh and blood but was intact.
‘Where did you find it?’ Luo San was very surprised that there was not a single intact thing on the entire square, so how did the box manage to remain in such good condition.
“From got it out of there.’ Feng pointed to a pile of bloody flesh on the ground, then looked at the box again.
The surface of the pile of bloody flesh was in a mess, but Luo San could still tell from the tiny, colourful patterns in the flesh that it was the corpse of a giant python. Among the pile of bloody flesh, he could only see a human head that was about a metre in size. The human head had two metres of hair, and its face had eyebrows, a nose, eyes, ears and a mouth, but it had been smashed to pieces and looked incredibly strange.
Feng Yi said, ‘I think when this monster couldn’t escape, it swallowed the box in its mouth, curled up its body and buried its head under its body. Therefore, although its head was smashed and deformed, the box is still intact.’
’ What kind of box is it that this human-headed, snake-bodied monster would value so highly that it would risk its own life to seize and protect it?”
Feng Yi gently stroked the pattern on the box and said, “Originally, this was a box that could unlock the secrets of the Qiongdu people’s shamans, but now it is useless?”
Professor Wu exclaimed in alarm, “Why do you say that? What secrets are there in this box?”
Feng Yi handed the box to Professor Wu, and said desolately, “The secrets are engraved on the box.”
Professor Wu Professor Wu took the box and looked at it, only to discover that it was engraved with the Bashu pictographic language: ‘What do all these words say?’
‘The destruction of Chengdu caused a massive flood, and our homes no longer exist. Before fleeing in panic, all the civilisation created by our ancestors was sealed under water forever. Apart from that jade, nothing else can be opened.’
“Jade ? Inside this box? Without waiting for Fengyi to reply, Professor Wu immediately tried to open the box. Little did he know that although the box was less than an inch thick, it was ingeniously designed with a tight fit between the top and bottom. Professor Wu fiddled with it for a long time, but was unable to find a way to open the box. Suddenly, he accidentally touched a pattern on the box, and heard a light sound of ‘ka’. Ten bumps the size of soybeans suddenly appeared on the lid.
Professor Wu knew that these bumps were the key to opening the box, but there were ten of them, and he wasn’t sure which one was the key. He had to ask for help and looked at Fengyi. Fengyi took the box and gently pressed on the ninth bump, and the box popped open silently. The box was empty, because apart from a depression, there was nowhere to store objects. At this point, the depression was empty, without a single thing. The depression was very shallow, only half a centimetre thick, the size of a baby’s palm, and it is thought that the jade mentioned in the Bashu pictographic language on the surface of the box was previously placed in this position.
“Feng Brother Feng, was the box empty when you opened it just now?”
Upon hearing Professor Wu’s question, Feng closed the box and said, “Of course it was empty, otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here in a daze.” While Feng was speaking, the box in his hand quickly returned to its tightly closed state.
Luo San carefully recalled the appearance of the indentation in the box, suddenly had a flash of insight, snatched the box away, opened it, and looked at it again carefully. The appearance of this indentation seemed to have been somewhere he had seen it before, but he couldn’t quite remember where. Now that he was looking at the indentation again carefully, he finally remembered that the jade in the indentation was the very jade that Shen Yuan was wearing.
“Shen Yuan, give me your jade.‘ Although Shen Yuan did not know what Luo San wanted to do, he still took off the jade hanging around his neck and handed it to Luo San as he was told. However, at this moment, Professor Wu reached out and grabbed the jade in his hands: “Xirang jade, girl, where did you get this jade?”
’What is Xirang jade?‘
’It’s your ancient jade,‘ said Professor Wu.
’Xirang How do you know the name of this jade? And what is the origin of this jade?‘
’Let’s talk about that later,’ said Professor Wu, clearly understanding Luo San’s meaning. He turned to Feng Yi and said, “Brother Feng, open the box.”
The box opened. Professor Wu once again compared the shape of the indentation in the box with the Xirang jade, and sure enough, they were exactly the same. Professor Wu took a deep breath and slowly placed the Xirang jade in the box. The emerald ancient jade and the indentation were indeed a perfect match. As soon as it was placed in the indentation, the colour immediately became the same as the box, and it was impossible to distinguish the two. The four of them looked at each other, not knowing what the hell was going on, so they had to bury their heads again and stare at the box.
‘Look, what is this?’ Luo San pointed to a place on the inside of the stone box and asked. When everyone looked closely, they saw that a faint stripe was now visible on the inside of the originally smooth stone box. ‘Look, there’s one here too,’ Luo San shouted, pointing to another place. Soon everyone noticed that more and more stripes were emerging on the inside of the stone box.
‘Open the box completely,’ Feng Yi told Professor Wu.
Professor Wu did as he was told, opened the box, spread the top and bottom pieces apart, and put them together.
“This is a map?‘ Luo San asked, surprised to see the surface patterns of the entire inner surface of the stone box emerge when the upper and lower pieces of the box were opened and placed together, looking like a map.
’Yes. This is exactly a map.‘ Feng Yi stared at the map intently, not blinking an eye, and suddenly reached out and pointed to a pattern on the map that was generally the same shape as the Xiyang Yuyuan, saying, “The secret entrance is here.”
’What secret?‘ Shen Yuan and Luo San asked in unison.
’No No!‘ Feng Yi did not answer, but shouted, and with lightning speed, he struck at the stone box. Suddenly, Professor Wu lost his grip and the stone box fell to the ground, closing together. Professor Wu did not know why Feng Yi was like this, and complained, “Brother Feng, what are you doing…” Before he could finish speaking, a blinding flash of light flashed before his eyes, landing on the stone box. The stone box turned into a wisp of blue smoke and disappeared before everyone’s eyes.
’My jade!‘ Shen Yuan exclaimed.
’The map is gone. What do we do now?‘ Nan Qingyi asked anxiously.
’Don’t argue,’ Feng Yi whispered, “the jade is here.” He spread his clenched hands. In the palm of his hand was the Resting Land jade. “Be careful of that light,” Feng Yi said, pointing to the beam of light in the sky without daring to raise his head.
The Resting was originally thin, placed in a stone box, and was basically fused with the stone box. There was simply nowhere to start if one wanted to take it. The group really did not know what method Feng Yi had used, nor did they know how Feng Yi had managed to fuse the Resting Land Jade into a stone in such a short period of time.
‘Luckily, Brother Feng had such a good method, and this jade is fine,’ Professor Wu could not help but praise.
‘It’s just that the map is gone. What do we do now?’ Nan Qingyi was still concerned about this issue.
“I I’ve written it down,‘ Feng Yi said indifferently.
’You have?‘ everyone said in unison, their tone full of disbelief.
Feng Yi did not answer, or rather, he did not bother to answer.
’Then what secret was Feng Laoshi talking about just now?‘ Nan Qingyi asked again.
’The secret of the Shi Feng tribe,‘ Feng Yi said, and then stopped. “This is not a place to linger, we must leave as soon as possible.”
’Are you are you worried that ‘when ten days have passed, jade and stone alike will burn’? Professor Wu asked. ‘I think the Qiongdu people’s prophecy is just meant to scare people, what’s the point of burning jade and stone alike when everyone is fine?’
Fengyi scoffed, ‘If it weren’t for that man with the snake’s body and a human’s head who sacrificed himself to protect it, this box would have long since turned into water. The jade and the jade all burn together, and what burns is this box and the jade inside. Just now, I thought that the ten days had already let this box go, but I didn’t expect that once the jade and the jade were together, it still alarmed it. If it had been a few seconds slower, this jade would no longer exist. We’d better pack up and leave quickly.’
At that moment, the sound of cars suddenly came from ahead.
Everyone fixed their gaze and saw four underwater cars speeding towards them.
‘Nan Qingyi, you’ve summoned the cars again?’ Luo San asked.
‘Well, I’m worried about a lack of manpower.’
‘Tell them not to come over, we’ll get in the car and leave immediately,’ Feng Yipaid to Nan Qingyi.
Chapter 27: Heaven Crumbles and the Seas Turn Upside Down
After everyone had boarded the car, Feng Yitai said to Shen Yuan, ‘By the way, girl, I want to ask you a question. How did this jade come to be in your possession?’
‘My boyfriend gave it to me before he died.’
‘Your boyfriend? Isn’t that Luo San?’
‘No, it’s not me,’ Luo San replied awkwardly.
‘My boyfriend’s surname is Xiao, but he died last year,’ Shen Yuan simply told everyone the whole story of Xiao Ziyu’s death. Luo San had only known a little about this matter before, and now that he heard Shen Yuan tell the whole story, he could not help but secretly admire Xiao Ziyu’s true love. Looking at Shen Yuan, although her tone of voice was calm, her eyes were red, and he knew that this story had once again touched the deepest pain in her heart. He felt distressed and wanted to go up to comfort her, but he didn’t know what to say. At this moment, Nan Qingyi broke the silence: ‘Do you really not know what kind of person this Xiao Ziyu is?’
‘I think it should be a descendant of the Xiao family of Guankou,’ Professor Wu answered for Shen Yuan. ’The Xiao family of Guankou is a secretive family in Dujiangyan City, and they are best at water control techniques. This family sits in Guankou to protect the safety of the ancient Dujiang Weir. As for the immortal jade, it is the family treasure of the Xiao family of Guankou. For more than 2,000 years, it has always belonged to the Xiao family of Guankou. I just didn’t expect this ancient divine jade to come from here…’
‘Wait,’ Luo San suddenly interrupted Professor Wu, ’I have a few things I can’t figure out. Since this jade was originally placed here, how did it later appear in the world above ground? Why is this jade called the Resting Earth Jadeites? And how did it end up in the hands of the Guankou Xiao family? Professor Wu, I know you’re better than a computer, so explain it to me.’
‘You son of a bitch asks a lot of questions,’ Professor Wu scolded, but was happy to explain to everyone, ’I can’t answer the first question, but I can talk about the second and third. According to ancient records, the Xirang Jade was obtained from the Xirang during the time of Yu the Great’s flood control. There is a black spot in the jade, which is suspected to be the Xirang. This jade is said to have inexplicable magical powers because it was taken from the Xirang. Legend has it that when Yu the Great was fighting the floods, he wore this jade close to his body, and that it was the jade’s power that enabled him to open up the mountains and break up the rocks, and to divert the river and dredge the river channels. After Yu the Great had finished fighting the floods, no one knew where the jade went. It disappeared for 2,000 years, and was only found by the Xiao family of Guankou at the bottom of the Baoping River during the annual repairs to the Dujiang Weir. The Xiao family recognised it as the ancient jade of the Xirang according to the diagrams in the ancient books, and used it to protect the safety of the ancient Dujiang Weir. Therefore, the jade has always been passed down in the family as a family heirloom, and only the heir can obtain it.‘
’So this jade has this origin,’ Shen Yuan sighed, and then fell silent. Luo San knew that she had once again thought of Xiao Ziyu, so he tried to change the subject, but he heard Nan Qingyi ask again, ’This Xiao Ziyu is dead, so did no one from the Xiao family come looking for him?’
‘I don’t know.‘ Shen Yuan was extremely reluctant to talk about this matter, but reluctantly answered Nan Qingyi’s question. However, Nan Qingyi ignored Luo San’s murderous gaze and continued to ask, “So he didn’t say what this jade was used for? I’m sorry, but this jade is of great importance, I have to ask?”
’No.’
‘There’s no need to dwell on the jade anymore. Let’s just follow the map and hurry up and unlock the secrets of the Ten Winds,‘ Luo San said. “Uncle Feng, where should we go according to the map?”
’Southeast.‘
’Is it also on land?‘
’Are you stupid?’ Professor Wu scolded. ’People said that all the civilization created by our ancestors has been permanently sealed underwater, so how could it be on land?’
‘I was thinking that if it’s on land, it’ll be very troublesome to find.’ The ground in front of them was in a mess. A few hours earlier, the lush, overgrown jungle had been uprooted by the rapidly receding floodwaters and swept away into the ocean. As a result, what was presented to everyone’s eyes was an open, flat plain. On the plain stood several small hills, which were the altars that Luo San and the others had seen before.
‘One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. The eight altars and the platform just now form a nine-palace pattern, just as we saw on the map.’ Professor Wu looked at the platforms and couldn’t help itching to go. He said to the three of them, “Gentlemen, let’s go to each altar and take a look. Maybe we’ll find something.”
Feng Yibai gave him a cold stare and said, ’No time.’
‘It won’t take long.’ Seeing that Feng Yibai still ignored him, Professor Wu turned to Luo San and said, “Luo San, there must be some unsolved mysteries of the Gorgon people there. Why don’t we go take a look?”
Before Luo San could reply, Feng Yibai shouted, “That’s enough! This is not the time to play with your archaeological stuff.”
Professor Wu was about to say something, but he heard Feng Yibai shout, ’Everyone be careful, the driver is speeding up.’ The driver increased speed as instructed. Everyone’s body immediately leaned backwards, but Professor Wu and Shen Yuan were agile, and they were able to stabilise themselves after a momentary sway. Luo San was not so lucky, and immediately fell on his back. Fortunately, he was tough, and after rolling over, he stood up again, patted his bottom and asked Feng Yi, ‘Uncle Feng, it seems we are not in a hurry, right?’
‘Not in a hurry?’ Feng Yi snorted, ‘Just look at the sky.’ Before anyone looked up, he shouted again, ‘Sit down properly.’
Luo San poked his head out of the window and looked up at the sky. He saw that the beam of light as thick as a pair of chopsticks had split into nine beams of light several dozen metres thick above the inky sky. The nine beams of light were in a square formation and shone evenly on the original positions of the eight altars and high platform. Luo San didn’t know what would happen when the light beam shone on the high platform, but he could clearly feel that a new storm was about to come. Sure enough, a few seconds later, there was a rumble from the ground beneath their feet. ‘Sit down properly! Don’t stick your heads out the windows, I’m closing the doors and windows,’ the driver yelled, and without waiting for the passengers to react, he accelerated again and the car sped towards the coast.
The scenery flashed past, and not far ahead was an altar. Luo San stared wide-eyed, trying to see what was happening as the light beam hit the altar. But at that moment, Shen Yuan behind him let out a cry of alarm, and Luo San quickly looked back, only to see Shen Yuan looking back in panic at the distant plains behind them. The plains had cracked open at some point, crisscrossed with ravines, and the ravines were continuing to expand, dividing the entire plain into pieces. One of the 50-centimetre-wide cracks was right behind their car, and its width was rapidly expanding.
‘This is…‘ Luo San was about to ask Shen Yuan, but then he realised that the crack was actually right under their feet, just hidden by the car. Once the crack was wider than the car, everyone would fall into the bottomless ravine. To confirm his thoughts, Luo San turned his head and looked ahead, and sure enough, there was a crack in front of the car.
’I’m going to prepare to dive underwater, everyone sit tight,’ the driver told everyone as he once again accelerated the car.
The plain not far away had already begun to collapse, and the crack beneath the car was already a full metre wide. The driver, with a pale face, was holding on for dear life. Suddenly, not far away, another car rolled over and fell into the crack. Before anyone could react, another car on the right fell into the crack.
‘It’s okay, don’t worry,’ Luo San comforted Shen Yuan while holding her hand.
Shen Yuan nodded: ‘I’m fine, don’t worry.’
The ocean was just 100 metres away, and at the current speed, it would only take a few seconds to reach it. But at that moment, everyone felt their feet sink, and the car began to fall. However, the car was speeding so fast that even though it was falling, it was still rushing forward. As a result, Luo San and the others felt like they were diving headlong into the abyss.
It’s over, I’m done for this life, Luo San sighed, but then he saw Shen Yuan turn around and look at him, smiling sweetly. Since meeting Shen Yuan, Luo San had never seen her smile like that before, and at this moment, seeing her smile, he felt that she was incredibly beautiful, and he didn’t care about anything else around him. He couldn’t help but smile back.
‘Xiaosan…’ Shen Yuan suddenly spoke, and Luo San was about to hear what she was going to say, but he heard a loud bang and the car plunged into the water. After a while, the car started to operate underwater and quickly sailed towards the middle of the ocean. Luo San looked around and realised that the long crack was full of water. It seemed that the sea water had poured in through the crack, thus saving their lives.
‘It seems that heaven is not going to abandon us.‘ Having escaped death, Luo San could not help but be overjoyed. He smiled and looked at Shen Yuan, but saw that Shen Yuan was also smiling at him with a faint smile.
’By the way, what did you want to tell me just now?‘ Luo San asked.
’No, it’s nothing.’ Shen Yuan lowered her head and pulled out the hand that was still being held by Luo San.
When his hand was empty, Luo San felt his heart empty as well. For a moment, Luo San really wished that he and Shen Yuan were always in danger, so that there would never be a gap between them; because once they were safe, Xiao Ziyu would forever become an insurmountable chasm between them. But Luo San quickly dismissed this thought from his head. He couldn’t bear to see Shen Yuan in danger, even for a second. As for Xiao Ziyu, he would just have to go his own way. ‘The outcome doesn’t matter to me, I just want you to be safe,’ Luo San said to Shen Yuan in his heart.
For a moment, neither spoke, sitting silently in the car as it rapidly travelled through the ocean, swimming southeast. That direction was Chengdu.
The car moved quickly underwater, gradually entering the centre of the ocean. The ocean here was peaceful, and everyone’s tense nerves relaxed. Only Nan Qingyi was still in contact with Nan Yi and the others. Three of the five cars had lost contact, and Luo San knew that most of those cars had been destroyed long ago in the escape.
After a long time, Nan Qingyi finally gave up and turned his attention to the map: ‘Uncle Feng, what exactly is that map drawn?’
‘It’s hard to explain, so I’ll just draw it. Anyone got a piece of paper and a pen?”
A few minutes later, a map appeared before everyone’s eyes.
In the centre of the map was a dot, with nine lines extending outwards from it. Each line ended in another dot, much smaller than the central dot. Four of the dots were further away, while the remaining five were closer together, with one even directly above the central dot. In addition, there are five symbols on the east side of the map, which are exactly the same and I don’t know what they are. There is another symbol to the north of the central dot. And below this symbol is another symbol, which everyone recognises as the appearance of Shen Yuan’s piece of Xirangyu.
‘What does this represent?’ Nan Qingyi asked first.
‘This should be a map of the entire underground ocean,‘ explained Feng Yi. “The dots represent the exits of the underground ocean. Look at the five dots close together, don’t they look very similar to the distribution of the entrances and exits of the Inner Sea Eye within Chengdu City? This dot in the northwest is the entrance and exit of the ancient town of Diexi in Mao County.”
’What do these lines represent?’
‘These lines should represent the routes from the centre of the map to the entrances and exits.‘ Feng Yi continued without waiting for Nan Qingyi to speak, “These five identical symbols represent the meaning of God…”
’God?’ Nan Qingyi asked in puzzlement, ’Didn’t you say that the Shifeng tribe were considered gods by the backward Qiongdu people and other tribes? Could there be a civilisation regarded as a god by them?’
‘Judging from all the signs, it is very likely that there is. Do you remember when I told you about the ‘Great Qiang-Gog War’ that records the deeds of the Gorgons? It mentions that in the beginning of the war between the Qiang and the Gorgons, the Gorgons were dominant, but then the gods gave the Qiang a revelation, which ensured that the Qiang successfully defeated the Gorgons. I said at the time that the gods here were most likely a more advanced civilisation of humans.’
‘A higher civilisation. Why did they choose to live underground rather than on the surface?‘
’No one really knows the real reason, but from the current situation, one possibility is that the higher civilisation chose to live underground because the surface is not the only habitable area on Earth, and these advanced civilisations were born and raised underground. Another possibility is that their civilisation was damaged on the surface and moved underground, and although the ecology on the surface recovered, they had become accustomed to living underground. There are many examples of this…’
‘What’s the meaning of this last pattern, which looks like the Earth-restoring jade? And what’s the meaning of the symbol on it?‘
’I suspect that this pattern marks the location of the Shifeng Clan’s secret. Only the jade can open it, as stated on the box. Now all we have to do is find that place. As for the symbol on it, it means homeland. Okay, take a break, it’s a long way to Chengdu.’
The car was speeding through the water. Everyone was asleep except the driver, and Luo San was wide awake, staring out the window. Through the headlights, he could see schools of fish swimming quickly ahead. He watched them with interest, hoping to recognise familiar species, but unfortunately, apart from the white scaleless fish, none of the others looked familiar.
Luo San turned his head in disappointment and looked out the side window of the car. The window was dark on one side, and he could only vaguely see groups of fish passing by. Suddenly the car shook violently, and Luo San looked back and saw a huge dark shadow appear in the window.
‘Oh my god, what is that?’ the driver asked as he turned on the car’s tail lights. Behind the car was a white scaleless fish more than ten metres long, which was obviously stunned and confused in the light.
Shen Yuan and the others also woke up here, and they all asked what was going on, but they were soon stunned by the sight before them: countless fish rushed towards the car like headless flies, and after hitting the car, they kept going.
‘Something’s wrong, something must have happened?’
‘The fish are all running this way, so something must have happened at that place just now.’
“Let’s follow the fish and escape.’
Amidst the crowd’s chatter, the car suddenly accelerated forward.
Soon, everyone noticed something was wrong: the ocean in front of them had suddenly become narrower, with only a narrow channel hundreds of metres wide, and the fish were rushing into this channel, chasing each other.
‘Bu Mu, what do we do now?’ Nan Yi asked Nan Qingyi for advice.
“I don’t know what kind of world lies ahead. What if we can’t get out if we go in? Turn around and go back to see what’s going on behind us.’
‘This?‘
’What this and that, turn around immediately.‘
’Nan, we’d better follow the fish. Animals have a stronger instinct to escape than we do.‘
’There’s no need for that. Turn around immediately.”
The car made a U-turn and once again sped off into the dark ocean.
Panicked fish swarms surrounded them, colliding violently with the car from time to time. Everyone sat in the car, worried, waiting for an unknown fate ahead.
‘It’s hot,‘ Shen Yuan whispered, wiping the sweat from her forehead. Luo San then felt that it was indeed a bit hot, probably because so many people were crowded into a car. But at that moment, Feng Yida suddenly shouted, “No good, the water in front may be even hotter. Let’s turn around quickly.”
’Turn on the temperature monitoring device outside the car,’ Nan Qingyi did not order a U-turn, but gave the driver such an order.
‘41 degrees.‘ The driver quickly gave the temperature of the ocean outside the car.
’Xiaonan, turn around quickly,‘ Professor Wu advised.
’If we go any further, we’ll only be dead,‘ Feng Yidao said.
’Bu Mo, let’s go back. The source of Kyushu is what matters.”
Nan Qingyi’s face was ashen, but he still refused to turn around.
Just then, the driver yelled, ‘Bumo, the temperature outside the car is rising rapidly. It’s 42 degrees, no, 43, no, 44, already 45…’
The temperature on the thermometer kept rising, and in the blink of an eye it reached 60 degrees. Many of the fish around the car had turned white, and the rest were too weak to escape.
Nan Qingyi still refused to give the order, staring ahead with his eyes: ‘What on earth is going on there?’
‘What else could it be? It must be Candle Nine Yin trying to boil this ocean,’ Feng Yida said.
‘Can he possibly boil such a big ocean?’ Nan Qingyi was quite disdainful, ‘There must be something strange about this.’
‘What is that?’ Luo San suddenly noticed a small light in the darkness ahead.
‘I don’t know,’ Professor Wu shook his head.
The light quickly grew larger, and the ocean in front of them became brighter. Everyone’s attention was drawn to it, until Fengyi shouted, ‘Turn around, turn around quickly, that’s the Candle Nine Yin.’
The driver no longer waited for Nan Qingyi’s order, and quickly turned the car around and sped forward. At this time, the temperature outside the car had reached 70 degrees. Everyone was sweating profusely and kept urging the driver to hurry. Fortunately, the car was not slow, and soon it was in front of the long, narrow passage again. Without hesitation, it drove into it. Countless schools of fish swam in the passage, and the underwater car kept crashing into the schools, fighting its way through. However, the passage ahead was getting narrower and narrower, and the underwater car could not help slowing down due to the obstruction of the schools of fish.
Luo San anxiously looked back: it was already quite bright behind him, and the light was getting bigger and bigger. Seeing this, he couldn’t help but urge, ‘Rush faster, or it’ll be too late.’
No need for him to urge, everyone knew the situation was critical. However, the current situation was that the fish were crowding in front, and the underwater car was having a hard time moving forward.
The temperature outside the car had already reached over 80 degrees, and although the cooling system in the car was turned up to the max, everyone still felt like they were sweating like rain.
At that moment, the intercom system in the car picked up the voice of someone in another car: ‘Bumo, the front of the tunnel is blocked.’
‘What?’
‘The front of the tunnel is blocked with a metal bar we don’t know how to get through. The fish can get through, but the car can’t.’
‘Find a way to get it open immediately.’
‘We can’t without tools.’
“Use the gun to sweep it, crash the car into it, whatever you can think of, you must get it open.’
‘Yes.‘ Then the crowd heard a loud bang, followed by several more.
’Hurry. Speed up, and charge forward for me,’ Nan Qingyi shouted.
The passage was getting narrower and narrower, with only a width of 20 metres ahead, and Luo San could vaguely see the taillights of another car. Finally, after a minute, the car reached the end of the passage.
Huge metal bars divided the passage into small cells, which made it possible for fish to pass through without any problem, but impossible for huge cars to do so. The car in front had already been badly damaged, but it seemed to have had little effect.
Nan Qingyi took the intercom system and yelled, ‘You hit the upper left corner, we’ll hit the upper right corner. When I yell one, two, three, we’ll hit together. One, two, three, hit.’
With a loud noise, the car body shook violently, and the metal mesh trembled.
‘Again,’ Nan Qingyi glanced back at the increasingly bright corridor behind him, ‘one, two, three, crash.’
After several impacts, the metal mesh finally loosened. Nan Qingyi was overjoyed and said, ‘Hurry, again.’
Finally, after a loud bang, the metal mesh collapsed with a crash.
“Hurry! Rush past.’
The car quickly sped past, racing towards another unknown world.
‘Now we have to rush forward as fast as we can, otherwise that thing will still catch up with us,’ Nan Qingyi said into the walkie-talkie.
‘Yes,’ the other end of the walkie-talkie replied curtly.
The car sped forward rapidly, and the temperature outside the car also dropped rapidly. Suddenly Luo San noticed that the other car had not followed. Nan Qingyi obviously noticed this and yelled into the walkie-talkie, ‘Nan Ren, what’s going on? Answer me.”
Nan Ren’s voice came over the walkie-talkie: ’Bu Mo, the car broke down after the last collision. You guys go ahead, don’t forget our great cause. I can’t talk anymore, Zhu Jiu Yin is catching up, but I don’t think he can get through the hole, he’s too big…’
Chapter 28: The 1998 Floods
Candle Nine Yin really could not pass through the narrow hole as Nan Ren had said, and eventually returned in vain. Seeing this, Nan Qingyi suppressed his grief and said to the others, ‘We will now go directly to the underground ocean in Chengdu and find the secret of the Shifeng tribe, the source of the nine provinces, as soon as possible, to console the many brothers of my Luoyue tribe who died tragically.’
Everyone wanted to quickly resolve this matter, so they all nodded in agreement.
The car found the right direction and started speeding towards Chengdu again. However, a few minutes later, the car suddenly came to a halt.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘The engine has failed.’
‘It can’t be that bad, can it?’ Luo San exclaimed.
‘This car is a new product. It has been underwater for too long and just had a lot of impacts, so…’ the driver replied.
“So what do we do now?’
No one answered, and the car, which had lost its brakes, began to sink.
‘Everyone put on their diving equipment. Our people will try to fix it. If that doesn’t work, everyone get out and just wait for their fate.’
The car’s repair didn’t go well.
Luo San said, ‘Damn it, if we don’t die from cooking, we’ll die from drowning.’
‘I don’t care, because dying is a relief anyway. It’s just a pity about Xiao Sanzi, who’s still a virgin.’ Professor Wu had a wicked smile on his face, and it was a good thing he could still smile.
‘This is not the time to talk about this, just think of a way out,‘ Shen Yuan frowned.
’Xiaosan, how did you get out of the ocean last time?‘ Professor Wu immediately put on a serious expression.
’It seems that we were both swept out by the current.‘
’Current? Brother Feng, give me the map.’
Professor Wu took a look at the map and pointed to the lines leading to the dots on the map, saying, ‘These lines can save us. If I’m not wrong, these lines actually refer to underground currents, and through these currents, we can quickly reach the next exit.’
‘At present, the closest exit to us is the one in Diexi, but Zhu Jiu Yin is guarding there, so we can’t get through,’ Feng Yidao said.
“So we can only go to other places.’
‘How can we find those ocean currents?‘
’Hey hey,‘ Professor Wu smiled proudly, “look up.”
A group of fish not far above their heads were moving quickly with the current.
’Is that the ocean current?‘
’It should be. It’s a last-ditch attempt, but let’s give it a try. And judging from the direction, it’s not flowing towards Diexi.”
Professor Wu was right, it really was an ocean current, and the group was swept along rapidly. However, everyone was unsure where this ocean current would lead them. Even if it led to that exit, if it wasn’t a thunderstorm, how would they reach the surface from that exit? After an unknown period of time, Luo San suddenly found himself being drawn into a passage. Gradually, a glimmer of light appeared at the front of the passage. Luo San couldn’t help but feel overjoyed. Sure enough, a few minutes later, there was a sudden bright light in front of them. Everyone had already come up from underground. Although they were still underwater, there was a bright light above their heads.
When Luo San surfaced, he looked around and saw before him a vast lake, with the water and mountains reflecting each other’s beauty.
‘What is this place?’ Luo San asked.
‘Qionghai,’ Feng Yi answered.
Qionghai? Luo San suddenly remembered what Professor Wu had said: During an earthquake in the Han Dynasty, the entire county of Qiongdu fell under the water and became Qionghai. How did it get so far away? How is this Qionghai connected to the underground ocean? On second thought, he immediately understood that, like Diexi, Qionghai should have been formed when the earthquake caused the city to sink underwater, triggered by damage to the rocks in the women’s toilet of the Sijiao Temple. Since Diexi is connected to the underground ocean, Qionghai will naturally be connected to the underground ocean as well. And it is very likely that the Qiongdun shaman came from the Shifeng tribe and followed the ground to Qiongdun.
At this point, Professor Wu said enthusiastically, ‘Qionghai is indeed related to the underground sea, just as I thought. It seems that the dot in the southwest on the map refers to this place. By the way, Feng, what are you thinking about?’
Feng was as usual, deep in thought. At this moment, he suddenly heard Professor Wu ask, and he was taken aback. ‘Uh, I was thinking that the rain is getting heavier and heavier.’
‘What’s wrong with the rain getting heavier?’
“The sea eye is flooding.’
‘What?‘
’Didn’t I say it already? The destruction of Shao Cheng in Chengdu will cause the flooding of the sea eye within a century or so. Now that the stone array has been damaged, the flooding of the sea eye is a foregone conclusion. I just don’t know what terrible things will happen.”
Luo San suddenly thought of the words of the crazy old man by the Funan River: ’Will Chengdu also fall like Qiongdu County and Diexi Ancient Town, with fish on your head?’
Professor Wu and Shen Yuan obviously had the same serious concerns, both of them looking grave.
‘We’ll go back to Chengdu immediately,’ said Luo San.
‘Yes, let’s go back to Chengdu, enter the underground ocean from there, and crack the secret of the Ten Wind Tribes according to the map, to see if we can find a way to stop this from happening.’
‘I’ll contact the car right away and rush back to Chengdu.’
Chengdu…
The sky was still overcast in the early morning.
Luo San was awakened by a loud thunderclap and lost all desire to sleep. After a quick wash, he turned on the TV to watch the news. As it was still early, the morning news was reporting on some of the hot topics from the previous day. The TV screen was full of news about flooding across the country, with Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong and the northeast all seemingly affected. This flood was threatening to become the worst in China in the 20th century.
As he watched all this, Luo San’s ominous feeling grew stronger and stronger: this flood must be related to the sea eye.
So he woke Professor Wu up and told him his thoughts. Professor Wu was fast asleep, but as soon as he heard Luo San’s words, he was wide awake: ‘Go and find Yan Qingbo right away and ask him if he has been paying attention to anything in this area lately.’
“You’re back, is everything okay? What did you find out?’ Yan Qingbo kept asking questions as soon as he appeared. Professor Wu had no choice but to give him a general introduction to the situation and then ask about the recent weather.
Yan Qingbo looked tired and had a lackadaisical air about him: ‘I’ve noticed what you’re saying. I’ve been keeping an eye on the weather situation these past few days. It’s been raining heavily for some time now, and when I arrived just now, there was already quite a lot of standing water on the roads. The city is already flooded internally, and the drainage facilities are unable to cope. The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and even the Pearl River and Songhua River basins, have also been hit by torrential rain.’
At the same time, floods have occurred in Northeast China, East China, and South China, and they are all major disasters that occur once every 100 years. In the Yangtze River basin, the Poyang Lake water system has burst its banks, and the water levels of the Fuhe, Changjiang, and Xinjiang rivers have all exceeded their highest historical levels. Floods have also occurred in the Dongting Lake water system, and the floodwaters from these two lakes have entered the Yangtze River, which has exceeded its warning level. A Yangtze River basin flood has already formed. Since 28 June, heavy rainfall has been occurring in Sichuan and other places upstream of the Yangtze River, which is bound to further increase the flood risk. In the Songhua River basin in the northeast, the flood risk has also become apparent due to the rapid rise in the water levels of the Nenjiang River and the Nomin and Gan rivers upstream. In the southeast, torrential rain in the Minjiang tributary basin has caused the water level of the Minjiang main stream to rise, creating a flood risk. In South China, the Xijiang River in the Pearl River basin has also burst its banks.
‘So serious.‘ Professor Wu let out a gasp after hearing this, “This must all be related to the destruction of the stone array. It seems I was wrong from the beginning. I thought the fish on the hat in Rutou foretold the fall of Chengdu into a lake, but I never imagined it meant the whole country would be submerged under water.”
’The whole country?’
‘Yes. It’s the whole country. After the disappearance of the small city, the power of the town to control the sea eye mainly comes from the stone array. Once the stone array is destroyed, the sea eye will flood. The result will not only be the submersion of Chengdu, but also the submersion of the whole country, and even the whole world. This is what the old man meant when he said that no one can escape.‘
’Judging from the current situation, it’s not as bad as the whole country being flooded, is it?’ Nan Qingyi asked incredulously.
‘I think it’s because of the Zhiji Stone and the Haiyan Town Stone?‘ Luo San interrupted.
’What Zhiji Stone and Haiyan Town Stone?‘
’The Zhiji Stone in the Cultural Park…‘
’Right now we have to find a way to stop this from getting any worse.‘ Professor Wu interrupted Luo San,
’Go underground immediately.‘
’Go in through the women’s toilets in the Si Jiao?”
Professor Wu glared at Luo San: ’Find somewhere else.’
‘Nanjiao Park?‘
’It’s not private enough. The fewer people who know about this, the better.‘
’The well where the stone pillar is?‘
’No good.‘
’I have a place in mind,‘ Nan Qingyi interrupted.
’Where?‘
’The residence of Dongfang Bai in the west of the city.’
The residence of Dongfang Bai in the west of the city was originally the Yizhou Governor’s Mansion of the Great Tang Empire. However, after Dongfang Bai was stripped of his title by the King of Qi, the residence was no longer used as the Governor’s Mansion. Only a small number of people remained, so when Luo San and Shen Yuan came out of the pool in the back garden of the residence that day, they did not see a single person. After the new Yizhou Governor led the crowd to destroy the cornerstones in the courtyard, only a few people guarded the residence. During the days when everyone was away in Xichang, the Nanquingyi clan had successfully captured the place and made it a stronghold in case of emergency.
By the time everyone arrived, the rain had become heavier. Although Dongfang Bai’s residence was located on higher ground, it was an old courtyard with poor drainage, so the courtyard, gutters and open passages were all full of water. Luo San and the others waded to the pond behind the residence. From a distance, Luo San could see that there were quite a few people gathered around the pond, all of them staring at the pond motionlessly. When he got closer, Luo San saw that the lotus flowers, water hyacinths and other aquatic plants in the pond had long been removed, and a deep trench had been dug in each of the four corners of the pond.
Nan Qingyi saw that everyone was at a loss, so he explained, ‘Underneath the pond is a sea eye, which everyone has known for a long time. We originally planned to drain the water from the pond to expose the sea eye, so that we could observe it in time. Therefore, around the pond, these four deep trenches were dug. But who knew that the pond’s water was endless and could not be drained no matter what. And since last night, the rain has gotten heavier, submerging the pond and making it even more difficult to drain.
Luo San asked curiously, ‘So what are everyone still doing?’
Nan Qingyi said, ‘Since 4 am today, our clan has arranged for two brothers with excellent swimming and physical skills to dive into the water and enter the ground through the sea eye. To facilitate the two brothers’ ascent, I attached nearly 10,000 metres of rope to each of them. After the two men entered the water, they were initially still connected to the surface, but then there was no more contact. We waited for two hours, but the two men did not appear. We pulled the rope up, but there was no one at the end of the rope. However, there was bloodstain on it. Although we knew it was dangerous, two more brothers disregarded the danger and went deep underground, but they never returned. I think it is too dangerous under the sea eye.’
While they were talking, the three suddenly heard the screams of the crowd from the other side of the pond. The three rushed to the edge of the pond and saw a sudden surge of red water in the depths of the pond. As the red water spread out, the crowd saw a faint figure at the bottom of the pond.
‘Quick, send two people down to take a look,’ Nan Qingyi ordered.
The two young men plunged into the water with a splash and surfaced in a moment, paddling with one hand while dragging something with the other. When they reached the edge of the pond, the crowd could see that the thing they were dragging was a person, but only the upper body was left, the lower part was gone.
‘It’s Nan Zhong,’ a man exclaimed in shock after seeing the corpse.
Luo San and the others immediately surrounded it. They could see that the corpse’s eyes were wide open, as if it was still in a state of shock, and its waist seemed to have been cut off by several sharp blades, the wounds were neat and bloody.
‘Xiaosan, what do you think did this?‘ Nan Qingyi asked.
Luo San pondered for a moment and said, “From the wound, it seems that Uncle Nan’s lower body was cut off by a sharp blade. But the sea eye has existed for thousands of years, so how could there be a sharp blade under it? I really can’t figure it out.”
’Then is it possible that it was an animal?’ Nan Qingyi asked in return.
Luo San shook his head and said, ‘If Uncle Nan was injured by a huge animal, I really can’t think of what kind of animal could take the entire lower body of a person into its mouth and bite it off in one bite, and the wound would be so even.’
Nan Qingyi was silent, but he heard a Nan Yi say, ‘Bu, Nan Zhong went down with a video camera, and it may have recorded something.’
Upon hearing this, Luo San noticed that although Nam Zhong only had half of his body left, his right hand was tightly gripping the camera, which was wrapped in a plastic bag.
The crowd had to make a great effort to remove the camera from the corpse’s hand. There was only one file in the camera, and Nan Yi played it for everyone to see. At first, there was a scene of a pond, presumably filmed on the shore while testing the camera. Then the screen shook for a moment, and a dark scene appeared on the screen. A man was feeling his way forward underwater. That was the man who had gone into the water with Nan Zhong. Soon after, a hole more than one metre in diameter appeared in the screen. The man in the screen stopped in front of the hole, turned his head and spoke a few words, as if he was asking something. Then the man jumped into the hole, and the screen shook a bit, and the whole screen darkened. It seems that Nam Zhong also jumped into the hole.
All the people could see was the camera rapidly advancing forward, presumably the two of them falling rapidly downwards along the hole. Suddenly the screen brightened, and after a splash of water, an endless ocean appeared in the frame.
‘The ocean! How can there be an ocean? It’s underground, isn’t it?’ one man exclaimed, but as soon as he saw Nan Qingyi looking solemnly at what the camera was recording, he immediately shut up.
The screen swayed up and down for a while, and then stopped. The camera slowly pans upwards, but what appears on the screen is a sky with a red canopy. There is no sun in the sky, but there is a large bright red patch in the red canopy, and the water near the bright red patch is bubbling. Then the camera pans slowly downwards, turning to the bottom of the water. Suddenly the screen becomes dark, and an unfathomable expanse of sea appears on the screen. In the sea, fish of all sizes swim around, and occasionally there are a few huge turtles. Suddenly, the man who had gone into the water with Nam-chung appeared in the frame. He was swimming hard, waving his arms to signal Nam-chung to follow. Nam-chung quickly followed, and as the camera advanced, the crowd saw the man swimming towards the distance in the direction of a huge dark object that could be faintly seen.
‘What is this?’ Luo San was suddenly alarmed. Such a huge object did not seem to be a creature in the sea, it could only be the ruins of a human. Suddenly the screen shook violently, and the camera began to advance rapidly. Luo San noticed that from the picture, the man in front of Nan Zhong was not swimming, but the whole person was moving forward rapidly. The current, they hit the current. Luo San immediately understood what was going on. Suddenly, he had an ominous feeling. Sure enough, a few seconds later, several flashes of cold light flashed across the screen, and then the screen suddenly turned red, and the picture began to shake violently. As the red on the screen began to fade, what came into view was a large, large piece of mangled corpse. From the screen, one could see countless cold lights spinning rapidly in the distance, forming a halo, sending up countless water sprays, and the camera lens kept shaking. It was only after several minutes that the cold light disappeared from the lens. When the lens stopped shaking, all that could be seen at the end of the screen was still that dark object standing motionless.
Then the camera began to sink downward, and the image became darker and darker. All kinds of fish, plankton, and large fish slowly entered the frame and slowly left. Luo San knew that at this time, Nan Zhongding must have been cut in half, so the camera was only sinking with his body. For the next half hour, the camera’s image showed nothing but a slow descent, with only the fish in the image changing. Suddenly, Luo San noticed a huge object appear in the camera’s image. The object was like a thick, long pillar standing in the distance. As the camera slowly sank, the object appeared to become thicker and thicker and closer and closer. Nan Qingyi stared at the screen, afraid of missing a single detail, but at that moment, the screen suddenly went black.
‘What’s going on?’ Nan Qingyi frowned.
“Bu Mo, I think the camera ran out of battery after filming underwater for a long time, so it couldn’t record the following images.’
‘Forget it,’ Nan Qingyi sighed, “everyone, what do you think it could be?”
Luo San was momentarily confused, but then he understood that Nan Qingyi was asking about the pillar-like object in the picture, which had also aroused his curiosity. However, he was not sure what it was, but Feng Yideng answered, ’It looks like a mountain.’
‘Mountain.‘ Nan Qingyi only said one word, then pondered for a long time before speaking: “Professor Wu, do you know the reason why Chengdu was named?
”What do you mean?’
‘I suspect it has something to do with the source of the nine provinces.’
‘That’s impossible.’ Professor Wu said, but he continued to speak eloquently, ‘It is impossible to determine when Chengdu was named. The name Chengdu is generally believed to have appeared in the 29th chapter of the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian, in which it is written: ‘The governor of Shu built ice breakers and dams to protect against the harm of the Mo River and built a city in the middle of the Erjiang and Chengdu’. And in unearthed cultural relics, the name Chengdu appeared as early as the late Warring States period: the inscription ‘Chengdu’ can be found on the blade of Lu Buwei’s halberd unearthed in Qingchuan, Sichuan. There is also a record of ‘Chengdu’ in the bamboo slips unearthed from the Qinshihudi tomb in Shuihudi: ‘Deliver to Chengdu via the county, and the prefect will deal with it’. As for the meaning of ‘Chengdu’, the earliest explanation of the two characters is in the Song Dynasty scholar Yue Shi’s Taiping Huanyu Ji (Volume 72). Yue Shi believed that Chengdu was named after King Tai of Zhou, who stopped at Qixia from Liangshan, and founded Chengyi in the first year and Chengdu in the second year, hence the name Chengdu. However, this is only one theory. Other scholars believe that Chengdu’s Cheng is the name of a tribe that became the name of the tribe. As for the meaning of the word capital, there are many theories. Some believe it means the capital city, some believe it means a place where water gathers, and some believe it means the intersection of two rivers in Tibetan. Still others believe that capital is simply the place, and Chengdu is the place where this tribe lives. Another opinion is that the two characters Chengdu are a phonetic transliteration of the Shu language into the Central Plains script. The ancient Shu language pronunciation of Chengdu is equivalent to the modern Mandarin pronunciation of dudu, and the ancient Shu language pronunciation of the character Shu was also like the modern Mandarin pronunciation of ‘du’. Then, the meaning of the two characters Chengdu in the Shu language is Shudu. That’s all I know.‘
’Is that all? Are there any other theories?‘
’That’s all I know.’
Chapter 29: The Mountain that Holds the Sky
After returning to the house, everyone gathered together and reviewed the content of the underwater footage taken by Nan Zhong.
After a long time, Nan Qingyi said, ‘Everyone still remembers the record in the Ancient Yue Du Jing: In the southwest of the country, the Bai people live… tens of thousands of miles to the west, east of Qiongdu, north of the Bai people, south of Heishui, west of Shifeng, the mountain holds the sky, and the earth gives birth to the source of the river. This is the source of the nine provinces. Oath! Forever keep this. There is not a single word in it about the Eye of the Sea. The Eye of the Sea is only a trivial part of the source of the nine provinces, which is far more important.
“So what do you think the source of the nine provinces refers to?’
‘Chengdu.‘ Nan Qingyi ignored the expressions of confusion and surprise on everyone’s faces when they heard these words, and said again, “The source of the nine provinces is Chengdu.”
’Xiaonan, I don’t understand. What exactly do you mean by Chengdu? Is it the city beneath our feet, or the ‘Chengdu’ that repeatedly appears in the words of the Ten Wind Tribes under Diexi?’
‘Of course it’s the latter,‘ Nan Qingyi said, “Although the founder of the Han dynasty came to Chengdu and made some discoveries, and although he had a certain understanding of the meaning of the phrase ”born of the soil and water’, he did not fully grasp its meaning. As for the phrase ‘mountains bearing the sky’, he was even more unable to understand it, until one day he saw this sentence in the Classic of Mountains and Seas: ‘In the great wilderness there is a mountain called Chengdu, bearing the sky.
‘In the middle of the great wilderness, there is a mountain called Chengdu, which carries the sky.‘ Luo San repeated this sentence in his mind, trying to understand its meaning, but he heard Nan Qingyi continue, “Just now, Professor Wu told me that the Shiji was the earliest book to record the word ”Chengdu’. That’s not true. The word ‘Chengdu’ was recorded in the Shanhaijing long ago. And this record coincides with the words on the gold plate. The sentence ‘Mountains contain the sky’ can be explained by this sentence in the Shanhaijing, while the sentence ‘Water gives rise to springs’ can be explained by the phrase ‘Chengdu was known in ancient times as a damp and swampy place, with deep springs and the source of four rivers’ in the Huayang Guozhi.
After a moment’s thought, Luo San realised that Nan Qingyi’s explanation also had its merits, but he couldn’t understand where this ‘Chengdu’ was. However, he heard Nan Qingyi continue to speak to himself, ‘From the scene just captured by the camera, Chengdu is beneath the eye of the sea. It’s that thing that looks like a mountain.’
In an instant, all the clues came together, and Luo San suddenly understood. Shi Wumu had told them to investigate those three things, and the key word he left behind was also ‘Chengdu,’ and he had left behind a strange symbol. Now that he thought about it, the three-tiered altar in the cave beneath the Anninghe Stone Cemetery and the three-tiered platform beneath Diexi Haizi were almost a reproduction of that symbol. And those two relics and this symbol all came from the Shifeng tribe, and the place where the Shifeng tribe originated should be the underground ocean in Chengdu, so there should also be something similar in shape to the symbol in the underground ocean. That thing is the mountain just seen in the video, which is Chengdu.
Luo San was thinking about it when he heard Nan Qingyi say, ‘I’ve decided to go down and find out what’s going on.’
‘Bu Mo, this is absolutely not allowed,’ Nan Yi dissuaded, ‘under the sea eye, it is extremely dangerous. Bu Mo is the leader of the tribe, how can he risk his life. If something happens, how can we explain it to our ancestors.’
‘Uncle Yi,’ Nan Qingyi turned around and knelt before Nan Yi, his words full of pathos, “This concerns the safety of the Huaxia. If I don’t go, who will? Do you want me to let all of you uncles and brothers go and die for me? After all, this is our family matter.”
Nan Yi was silent for a moment, pondering for a long time before he spoke, ’Then Bu Mu, you choose some good men and go down there. Be very careful.’
‘I’ll go with you,‘ Luo San said. “I’ve already gone down twice, after all.”
’I’ll go down too,‘ Feng Yidao said.
’And me. I’m from the enlightened royal family, and I’m deeply involved in this matter, so I can’t not go down.‘
’I’ll go down too. I have the jade that unlocks the secrets of the Ten Winds, so I have to go down.‘
’I’ll wait for good news from you up here,’ Yan Qingbo said.
‘Yan, don’t forget what I told you,‘ said Professor Wu. Yan Qingbo nodded and said, “This person doesn’t exist.”
’How can this be?‘
’I don’t know, but there must be something strange about this. I’ll keep an eye out. You must be extra careful when you go underwater.”
Luo San was confused by the conversation between the two men, and when he asked a question, neither Wu nor Yan answered.
So Luo San had to ask Yan Qingbo quietly, ’Have you heard from Liu Fufeng?’
Yan Qingbo shook his head: ‘No, there’s no news. Not only is Xiaoliu missing, but Mù Shigu has also disappeared. Only He Wangyu comes to see me from time to time to ask about everyone’s situation. That guy is so timid. But I always feel that he’s not being honest, as if he’s trying to find out about us.’
‘Yes, I feel like he’s an albino.’
‘Reason?’
“His skin is white with a reddish tinge, and sometimes his eyes have a little green in them… Okay, I’ll stop talking. Let’s go.’ Luo San still wanted to say more, but Shen Yuan was already urging him to go.
In addition to Luo San, Shen Yuan, Professor Wu, Feng Yi, and Nan Qingyi, Nan Yi also selected twenty capable people to accompany everyone into the underground.
After everyone finished packing, they followed Luo San into the water. Luo San, with a thick rope tied around his waist, slowly stepped into the water. As soon as the water reached his head, he dove under the water with a mighty splash. It was dark underwater, but luckily he had become accustomed to being underwater over the past few days, so it felt just like being on the surface. He swam slowly forward and soon reached the hole in the middle of the pond. This was the Eye of the Sea. Luo San swam into the hole, and all of a sudden he felt darkness before his eyes. It felt as if he was in a slanted tunnel, and his body slowly slid downward. Looking back, he saw the shadows of the others wavering behind him, as if they had also entered the hole.
Soon, Luo San felt a light not far ahead. The light got closer and closer, and suddenly there was a flash of light. He charged forward, and immediately steadied himself. But as soon as he had stabilised, he was knocked aside by the people rushing down behind him.
When everyone had descended, Nan Qingyi waved his hand to indicate that everyone should remain still. Luo San took the opportunity to look around. He noticed that he and the others were currently in a vast expanse of water, where all kinds of fish and other creatures swam freely. He looked down, and it was dark and bottomless, and the same was true when he looked around. Looking up, however, he saw that more than ten metres away from everyone was a blue sky. There was not a single cloud in the sky, so most of the sky looked incredibly pure blue without a hint of colour. As far as the eye could see, there was only a red patch not far away, which looked even redder than the red seen in the camera. In the other direction, there seemed to be a very thin, chimney-like object reaching up to the sky. Luo San looked down the object, but saw that the object became thicker and thicker as it got lower and lower. However, due to the obstruction of the water, he could not see clearly where the object reached underwater. But he keenly sensed that it was the mountain-like object he had just seen in the camera.
At this moment, Nan Qingyi waved his hand, indicating for everyone to follow him. Immediately, he turned on the underwater propeller and quickly approached the object. The object didn’t seem far away, but it actually took the group half an hour to get within a few dozen metres of it. Here, Nan Qingyi waved his hand, and everyone stopped. This was the best place to observe the object. Luo San saw that the object did indeed reach up to the sky, disappearing completely into it. It was just like the Monkey King’s cudgel, which pierced the sky in one fell swoop and reached up to the heavens. Luo San noticed that the object was only three metres thick at the point where it met the sky, and it got thicker and thicker the further down it went, all the way to the depths of the ocean. There was something strange about the point where it met the sky. Just now, Luo San had seen the sky elsewhere as such a pure blue, but the sky near the object was multicoloured and mixed in colour.
After looking at it for a while, Luo San continued swimming forward, and Nan Qingyi also called on everyone to follow. This time, they arrived in front of the object. Luo San reached out and felt it, only to feel the slimy texture of the tentacles. He scratched away the surface of the object, revealing the material inside, which was cold stone. After scratching for a while, Luo San discovered that the object was actually made of a single piece of rock. Luosan carefully felt around the stone, and suddenly he noticed that there was a crack about a few millimetres in size, which seemed to run the entire length of the rock. Luosan remembered that the sea-eye town stone in the women’s toilet in the Four Teachings also had a crack. Judging from the direction and position, the boulder in the women’s toilet in the Four Teachings should be the part of the mountain that protrudes from the ground.
While Luo San was thinking, he saw Nan Qingyi wave his hand, beckoning everyone to continue diving underwater. Gradually, it became darker and darker, and the rock became larger and larger. At this time, looking up from below, it looked like a towering mountain peak. At this point, Luo San stopped, because he was already certain that this was ‘Chengdu’.
At that moment, a group of white scaleless fish swam towards the group, forming a siege against them. Nan Qingyi saw that the big fish were not there for good reasons and immediately signalled for everyone to be on their guard.
Luo San and the others did not move, and neither did the big fish, as the two sides just faced off against each other. Luo San looked around vigilantly, but saw that the big fish were constantly gathering towards them. ‘No good, these beasts are going to surround us,’ Nan Qingyi shouted through the walkie-talkie, and with a wave of his hand, everyone began to head upstream. At that moment, all the big fish rushed towards the group as fast as lightning. Nan Qingyi and the others seemed to have never expected that these big fish were so huge in size but so fast in speed. They were at a loss for a moment, and in an instant, the bodies of three people lay on the ground, and the blood and bodies attracted the big fish to scramble for them.
Luo San felt a dark blackness before his eyes and a sharp pain in his shoulder. He turned his head and saw the two eyes of the fish right in front of him, and its mouth was tightly biting his shoulder. He endured the sharp pain, shouted, and held his gun and fired several shots at the fish’s head. The huge body of the fish swayed for a moment, releasing its huge mouth, and it fell silently to the bottom of the water. Luo San just let out a sigh of relief when he suddenly felt a splash behind him. He immediately looked down, and without looking, raised his gun and shot. Immediately afterwards, he felt a weight in his hand, and the big fish started to sink. Luo San hurriedly struggled to swim to the side, but as soon as he stabilised his position, two more big fish pounced on him. Luo San couldn’t help but feel a surge of murderous intent, and he slammed the trigger, but at this time there was no more bullets in his gun. Luo San then remembered that the underwater gun could only fire a few rounds at a time. Without thinking, Luo San immediately swung the butt of the gun and smashed it against the head of one of the big fish, but the fish dodged it and another fish was already in front of him. At that moment, Luo San heard two gunshots, and the two big fish died. He turned his head and saw Shen Yuan.
Seeing that there were no fish around, Luo San quickly loaded the gun and then looked around. He couldn’t help but groan inwardly. Nan Qingyi, Feng Yi, Professor Wu, and the others were all exhausted, Shen Yuan was in danger, and many others had been injured.
Luo San hurriedly swam up to help Shen Yuan deal with the two fish surrounding her. Shen Yuan let out a sigh of relief, then raised her gun and shot behind Luo San. At this time, the gun in her hand was also out of bullets. Large fish continued to come from all directions. Everyone wanted to escape, but they were unable to move as nimbly as the fish in the water, so there was nowhere to escape to. At this time, Luo San saw a group of giant turtles swimming over and quickly entangling themselves with the large fish. The large fish were unable to pay attention to him for a while, and Luo San and the others immediately let out a sigh of relief. At that moment, Luo San suddenly felt a huge current rushing up from below, and he was helplessly swept upwards with the current. The current was so strong that it suddenly rushed Luo San upwards for dozens of metres. In a hurry, Luo San tried to stabilise himself, but because the current was so strong, his body simply did not obey him. While struggling, he had already been washed to a distance of only a few metres below the canopy. Seeing that he was about to hit the canopy, Luo San did not think twice and immediately put out his hands and pushed upwards. With a bang, his hands hit the canopy, instantly numbing his arms. His body shook violently, and his blood and qi churned. It was only after a while that he calmed his internal energy and looked around, only to see that everyone had also been hit against the canopy and was disoriented. What made Luo San feel lucky was that no one was injured, and the big fish had disappeared without a trace.
At this time, he heard Nan Qingyi say on the walkie-talkie, ‘Get out of here quickly. We just saw a huge black object in the camera, so let’s go take a look.’
After swimming northwards for more than ten minutes, Luo San did indeed see a huge object not far ahead. In the dim ocean, it looked dark and murky. Just now, in the camera, Luo San did not see clearly what the object was, but at this time and location, he could see quite clearly that the dark object looked like an endless wall, incredibly tall, with its top next to the blue, pure sky, while its bottom seemed to be floating in the water from the current location of Nan Qingyi. What on earth was it? Everyone had this question in mind.
‘I’ve decided to go up and take a look,’ Nan Qingyi told the others. ‘However, Nan Zhong and the others were killed on their way to investigate this object. For safety reasons, Nan Xiao, you go back to the surface and report everything you just saw to Nan Yi.’
‘Isn’t there an underwater intercom device?’ Luo San suggested. ‘You can just tell Nan Yi directly through the intercom device.’
‘The underwater intercom device can give a general idea, but the more detailed the information I want to give to Nan Yi, the better. In that case, only someone has to go up there.”
Luo San was about to say something else, but behind him, Professor Wu pulled him. He turned his head and saw Professor Wu shaking his head at him. Although he was full of questions, he had to stop asking.
As he watched the figure disappear, Nan Qingyi decisively waved his hand to signal the group to follow him. Luo San swam quickly ahead of the group, carefully surveying the situation around him. The ocean was quiet at the moment, with only the occasional jellyfish and fish swimming past. After swimming for a while, the situation remained the same. The object was getting closer and closer to the group, but no matter how Luo San looked at it, it still looked like a wall.
Although nothing had happened, Luo San’s heart was still on edge, because he didn’t know when the current that would push Nan Zhong and the others towards death would strike. But the current never appeared. Could it be that the current only appeared by chance? The thought crossed Luo San’s mind, and he couldn’t help but let go of the tension in his heart. But at that moment, he felt a strong force behind him, and he suddenly realised that something was wrong. Just as he was about to do something, a powerful current rushed up, carrying him forward. Luo San found that although he was doing his best to try to go backwards, he could never do it, and instead, he was rushing forward at an ever-increasing speed. Fear! Luo San felt an unprecedented fear, but after all, he was used to being carefree and remained level-headed, carefully observing his surroundings. From afar, he saw the circle of white light ahead of him. He suddenly realised that no matter how big the circle of light was, it had boundaries, and as long as he escaped beyond the boundaries of the circle of light, he would be fine. Thinking about this, he hurriedly yelled into the intercom, ‘Dive down, dive down.’ He then did his best to adjust his body and used the underwater propeller to dive downward. This only took a matter of ten seconds. Luo San only felt that his entire body was being washed forward while diving downward, and the circle of light in front of him was getting closer and larger. Seeing that there was only a distance of a few metres left, he did his best and dove downward, his scalp passing close to the circle of light. Luo San felt a sharp pain in his waist. He reached down to feel, and when he did, he noticed that his clothes had been torn where his hand had touched them, and there was a gash in his waistband. Fortunately, the wound was shallow, and he was still able to hold on. Luo San did not care about his own injuries, and hurriedly looked up to see several people already caught in the circle of light, their bodies and heads separated. Some had their heads chopped off, some were cut in half, and some were cut in half at the chest. Luo San immediately saw that Shen Yuan and the others were not inside, and he let out a sigh of relief. When he looked back again, he saw that Professor Wu, Shen Yuan, Feng Yi, Nan Qingyi, and the others were all safe and sound because they had followed behind and listened to Luo San’s warning and dived down early.
The group discussed the situation with heavy hearts and decided to continue swimming towards the wall-like object in the distance. No one knew what dangers awaited them in the distance or what this object they had seen so far might be. But they understood that they had to go and find out.
Chapter 30: Underwater civilisation
After swimming forward in the water for more than ten minutes, Luo San and the others finally arrived in front of the wall-like object. The object was hundreds of metres high, directly against the sky, and its ends extended into the dim distance, making it impossible to know how long it was. Various creatures and microorganisms were attached to the surface of the object, and it felt slimy to the touch. Scrapping away the surface attachments, Luo San saw the rocks inside. Knocking with his hand, the sound was dull and seemed very heavy.
As he slowly swam upstream under the canopy, Luo San realised that he had been wrong all along. The canopy and the ‘wall’ were not one and the same, and there was a gap of more than two feet wide in the centre of the two. Luo San looked inside through the gap: the object that looked like a wall was indeed a good name for a wall, but it was not an ordinary wall, but a city wall.
The city wall was more than 20 metres thick. Inside the city wall, Luo San was facing a street that was more than 50 metres wide. On both sides of the street were neat houses, all with high gates and big walls. And in the distance, the entire city was full of streets and alleys and houses. Except that it is now all submerged in water, with the occasional fish swimming about, the whole city is deathly quiet. It is impossible to know how big the city was, but just from the seemingly endless city walls, one can tell that it was extraordinary in scale. The strange thing about this underwater city is that it is floating on the water. If the city were like a ship, it could certainly float on the water, but now that the whole city has sunk into the water, how can it still float on the water?
Luo San had even more questions in his mind: How did such a city come to be under the Chengdu city? Who were the owners of the city? Why did they choose to build a city under the water? There was no land here, so how did they survive? Were they an underwater people? Was the underwater city always under the water, or did it originally float on the surface? Did the city have a gate? Were there people in the city now? If there were no people, why had they abandoned the city?
While Luo San was racking his brains, the group had already started swimming towards the city. The only way to enter the city was through the gap at the top of the city wall. The gap was only two feet wide, but it extended more than 20 metres into the city. The group had to crawl on all fours to pass through the top of the city wall and reach the end of the other side of the wall. Looking down from the wall, Luo San noticed that the city wall was more than 30 metres high. Comparing the height of the outer city wall, Luo San immediately understood that there should be a huge space beneath the ground of this city, and perhaps this was the reason why the city floated on the water. However, at this time, Luo San did not want to delve into this question, and what he was concerned about was the other situation in the city. So he began to go downstream.
However, after only going downstream for a few meters, Luo San gradually realized that something was wrong, because the pressure on his body suddenly decreased. He stopped and looked up, only to see the sea water above his head slowly receding. Shen Yuan, Professor Wu and the others were also looking on in amazement.
‘Ebb tide?’ Luo San suddenly thought of this question.
The sea water receded quickly, and Luo San and the others were swept along by the current and brought to the edge of the city wall. There were numerous small holes about a metre across in the city wall, through which the sea water flowed. In no time at all, the sea water had receded throughout the entire city.
Luo San found himself standing in the street. The ground beneath his feet was very hard, and he thought it was paved with rocks, except that the surface was full of silt.
The street below him ran straight ahead, seemingly without end. The width of the street was even wider than he had expected, except that the road surface was covered with mud and sand. Although the street was empty, there were all kinds of objects discarded everywhere. Luo San picked up one at random, but it was a two-handled pottery jar. Then he picked up something else, but it was a stone pot. Along the way, Luo San picked up objects at random and put them down at random. The things discarded along the way were all daily utensils such as pots, bowls, and ladles, but most of them were stone or pottery, and there was not a single metal object. Luo San couldn’t help but marvel in secret, but he didn’t stop walking, but walked towards the houses along the road.
On both sides of the road were rows of courtyards, all with high walls and gates. In particular, the gate was 4 metres high and wide. Some courtyard gates were closed, while others were wide open, and at a glance, one could see the messy scenes in the courtyards. Luo San walked to the side of a courtyard with a half-closed gate and reached out to push the door, but upon pushing, he discovered that the gate was extremely heavy. After knocking with his hand, he discovered that the door was actually carved from a single piece of rock. It seemed to be a city that was dominated by stone tools but had no metal. He stepped into this courtyard, thinking to himself. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he felt that the road inside the courtyard was uneven, paved with cobblestones. The first courtyard had no houses, just a spacious dam, with a row of unusually tall sheds on each side. The door to the second courtyard was just the normal size, with an ivory tusk embedded in the lintel. Although the original colour of the tusk could no longer be seen, its shape could be made out. Stepping through the door, Luo San noticed that ivory could be seen everywhere: ivory sculptures and ivory utensils. The inside of the house was the same as the street outside: all kinds of utensils were scattered on the floor, as if the owner had left in great haste. After walking around for a while, he found nothing of interest, so he left the house with the others and continued exploring.
The straight street stretched on and on, long and cold, with an air of death about it, as if it would never end. The courtyards on either side looked the same. Luo San walked for half an hour before he saw a tall object in the distance, a hundred metres high, rising from the ground and reaching straight up to the sky. The group couldn’t help but quicken their pace and walk towards the object.
At the end of the road was the object. It was a triangular pyramid-shaped building, somewhat similar to the Pyramid of the Sun in the Mayan civilization, except that the Pyramid of the Sun only had a platform at the top, while this pyramid-shaped building had three platforms, with the uppermost platform continuing onto the sky. On the three sides of the triangular pyramid-shaped building, there were three staircases leading directly to the top, and at the bottom of each staircase was connected to a wide road. On either side of each road were courtyards, although each one was different. Luo San noticed that there was a road on either side of his road. The first house on the right-hand road was dark and smooth, as if glazed, and it looked as if the whole house was made of pottery. However, apart from this house, the other houses on the street were still made of stone, but all the utensils on the street were made of pottery, not a single stone one, let alone iron. And the first house on the left street was crystal clear, actually made entirely of jade, and on this street, the abandoned utensils were mostly made of jade, but some daily utensils were made of stone and pottery.
Luo San immediately realised that the strange building in front of him was an altar. It must have been the place where the people living in this city worshipped on a daily basis. As for streets like Jiutiao, and the fact that each street used different utensils, it must be that the nine tribes of Shifeng each lived in a different street.
‘Home.’ Luo San suddenly heard Fengyi utter these two words. He immediately understood that this city was the home marked on the map, which was also the place where Shifeng lived.
At this moment, he heard Professor Wu say, ‘This is the homeland? No wonder, the Shifeng tribe must have lived in this floating city in the past, but then the sea rose and flooded the entire city. Although the city will appear above water at low tide, it is no longer habitable. The Shifeng tribe had no choice but to flee in a hurry, which is why the place is in such a mess. Let’s go to the altar.’
Nan Qingyi started walking up the stairs first, but when Luo San saw that he had just set foot on the first step of the altar, he immediately jumped to the right, then jumped to the right again, but before he could get his footing, he jumped to the side again, and then he rolled back. At this time, Nan Qingyi had already fallen onto another street. Luo San saw him stand up, look around, and walk towards one of the houses. The crowd hurriedly followed, but on the way, they saw Nan Qingyi rolling around on the street for a long time before he got up.
The crowd immediately rushed over and surrounded him.
‘Nan, what just happened? You were jumping around there,’ Professor Wu asked.
“What, you didn’t see it?’
‘See what?‘
’Elephants, rocks, mud?‘
’What are you talking about? We only saw you jumping around.‘
’No way, did I see a ghost?”
It turned out that Nan Qingyi had just started to climb up to the altar. However, just as his feet set foot on the first step of the altar, a loud elephant roar suddenly came from midair, and an elephant weighing tens of tons charged down. Fortunately, he was quick-witted and leapt to the right, narrowly missing the elephant, which landed with a thud. He looked back in disbelief, but the elephant was nowhere to be seen. At that moment, he heard a rustling behind him, and when he looked back, he let out a cry of despair. Countless grains of sand were rushing at him like a mudslide, and in a panic, he had no choice but to leap to the right again. However, as soon as he landed, he heard a rumble, and looking up, he saw countless boulders whizzing towards him. He had no choice but to leap to the side with all his strength once again. However, when he landed on the steps, there was no chaos above him. Had they finally run out of tricks? Just as this thought crossed his mind, he realised that he was wrong, as a torrent of rushing water appeared out of nowhere and washed him away. When the water current disappeared, he realised that he had landed on one of the streets. At the end of the street was the altar, so this must be one of the nine streets that faced it. However, everything on this street seemed a bit strange. There were jade houses, pottery houses, and stone houses, and there were all kinds of discarded objects on the street. The three streets that Nan Qingyi had just looked at were all dominated by a single type of object, but this street seemed to combine everything. His curiosity aroused, he walked towards one of the jade houses. However, before he reached the door of the house, a rapid current of water gushed out, washing him to the door of the house on the opposite side, and another current of water from the opposite house washed him back. In this way, Nan Qingyi bounced back and forth between the two doors like a rubber ball, spinning and disorienting. Finally, he retreated to the end of the road, and Professor Wu and the others chased after him.
‘It seems that these settings only work on those who want to enter the altar, but not on others,’ said Professor Wu, leaning over to pick up a stone pot that had been abandoned on the road and throwing it at one of the steps of the altar. With a clang, the stone pot landed on the step, bounced slightly, and fell back down. The group waited to see what would appear, but after waiting for a long time, they didn’t see anything strange pounce off the step.
‘You see, as long as we don’t go up there, we won’t see what happens,‘ said Professor Wu.
’No. The stone pot is fine, so perhaps there is nothing supernatural about this passage.’ Nan Qingyi said, and then came to the steps, hesitated for a moment, and then stepped onto the first step. The moment his foot touched the ground, Nan Qingyi regretted it. There was no longer any trace of the stone pot he had just thrown. What was going on? Before he could react, his vision went dark and a fishy smell assailed his nostrils. Nan Qingyi escaped with all his might. At the moment of escape, Nan Qingyi saw clearly that what was pouncing at him was a giant python.
‘Maybe your blood will work,’ Shen Yuan suggested.
Shen Yuan was right. After Feng dropped a drop of his blood on a step, nothing unusual happened, and everyone arrived safely at the altar. Standing at the top of the altar and looking down, everyone looked down. There were steps leading into the interior, but it was shrouded in a white, dense fog.
The group stepped up the stairs, and in the white of the fog, they walked for quite a while before they suddenly felt a bright light, and they were already in a palace. The palace was not very big, with five rows of chairs. The first row had only one chair, the second to fourth rows each had three chairs, and the fifth row had two chairs.
‘These chairs are arranged very carefully,’ said Professor Wu as he looked around. “There is a sculpture on the back of each chair. The first row is the sculpture of the Candle Jiu Yin, and the second to fourth rows are the totem sculptures of the other nine tribes of the Ten Wind Tribe. As for the sculpture on this chair in the fifth row, I don’t know what it is either.”
The sculptures on the two chairs in the last row are very strange. One is a pale-faced man with a smile on his face; the other is a yellow-faced man with a gloomy face.
‘What do you think these two human heads represent? There are only ten tribes, right? Why are there two strange human heads?‘ Luo San asked.
’This is our Qiongdu,‘ Fengyi pointed to the yellow-faced, gloomy-looking figure.
’Qiongdu?‘
’Yes. This symbol is among the things passed down by our family. We have never shown it to outsiders, let alone carved it out.’
‘Why do you people from Qiongdu all have sallow faces? Right, because you’re made of loess. But why are you so gloomy? Look at this portrait of someone else, he’s smiling so happily.‘
’Every nation has its own characteristics. The people of Qiongdu are born with a tragic fate.‘
’Then which nation does this happy-looking person represent?‘
’The white race,‘ Professor Wu replied.
’I asked about a nation, not a race.‘
’I’m talking about a nation.’
‘I don’t understand.‘
’Stupid. Whites are a nation. The Classic of Mountains and Seas mentions the country of the white people and the country of the white people, and you’ve forgotten the sentence in the Classic of Ancient Yue: To the east of Qiongdu, to the north of the white people. We used to think that Qiongdu and the white people referred to people living on the ground, but now it seems that they are both living underground.’ Professor Wu said, frowning, ‘But there’s one thing I can’t figure out. If Shifeng lived in this city, where did Qiongdu and the Bai people live? And where does Heishui refer to?’
‘If I’m not wrong, this place will have the answer,’ Nan Qingyi said to Professor Wu, pointing to a rock on the ground next to the fifth row of chairs. ‘Judging from the layout, there should have been another chair on top of this rock, but it was removed later. However, there are words on the rock.’
Wiping away the dirt on the surface, the characters on the rock quickly appeared, and they were again in the Bashu pictographic language.
Fengyi read them out as he looked at them: ‘Black Water, carved by the gods from the phoenix tree, resides to the north of Chengdu.’
As he read this, Fengyi suddenly stopped and said to the group, ‘It seems that this latter part of the text was carved later.’
‘Just tell us what it means,’ Nan Qingyi urged.
‘Tyrannical and ruthless, he killed ten winds. The gods sent him to the Abyss, but he refused to go, so they chased him away.‘
’So the Black Water also lives underground. North of Chengdu, that is, north of that mountain. Have you noticed if there is any land north of that mountain?‘ Luo San asked.
’No.‘ Everyone shook their heads.
’Then where do they live?’
‘Not only the Black Water, but also the Qiongdu and Bai settlements are problematic.‘
’Just look under the other chairs to see if there are any words,’ Feng Yidao said.
Sure enough, there were words in front of each chair. The word for Qiongdu was: Qiongdu, made by the gods from loess, resides to the west of Chengdu. The word for the Bai people was: Bai, carved by the god of water, living in the south of Chengdu. The chairs of the Shifeng tribe also had words under them, but they didn’t say what the god had used to make them. They just said the name of the tribe, such as Yufeng, Shifeng, Diaofeng, Mangfeng, etc. The word under the chair carved with the pattern of the Jiu Yin was ‘Houfeng’.
“Houfeng, what does it mean?’
‘Xiaosan, you really have a million questions. The meaning of Houfeng is actually Fenghou. In ancient times, Hou meant king, so Fenghou means the king of the Feng clan,‘ Professor Wu replied.
’How did you know that the two characters had to be switched?’
‘In ancient times, there were two language systems in the land of China, as we can see from various historical records. For example, one record says that emperors such as Yao and Shun were called Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun, and kings such as Yu the Great and Qi were called Xiahou Yu and Xiahou Qi. In this language system, titles are placed before names. At the same time, there is another type of linguistic system that also deserves our attention in the historical records, which is to place the name before the title, such as the Yan Emperor, the Yellow Emperor, the Emperor Yao, and the Emperor Shun. Obviously, ‘Houfeng’ belongs to the former linguistic system. Once you understand this, you will naturally know the meaning of Yufeng and Shifeng.‘
’Could it be that this linguistic system, such as Xiahou Qi, originated here?‘
’This is very likely.’
‘Guys, don’t just talk about useless things, time is ticking, let’s find clues,‘ Nan Qingyi urged.
’This isn’t useless, figuring this out is equivalent to sorting out the origin of the Chinese nation, and will be of great benefit to finding the source of the Nine Provinces.‘
’Er, Professor Wu, is what we’re talking about really that important?’ Luo San asked in surprise.
Professor Wu gave a wry smile: ‘Of course. Come to think of it, Fuso and Guixu both appear in the records of this underground civilisation, and from what we can tell, this underground civilisation predates the civilisation on the surface. In other words, the myths and legends that we used to think originated in the Central Plains all originated here, and we must re-examine the locations where the myths took place.’
‘The problem is, we don’t have that much time right now,’ Nan Qingyi said anxiously.
‘Xiao Nan, don’t…‘
’Let’s search here immediately to see if there are any clues, and then go out to find the land where the Heishui, Qiongdu, and Bai people live,‘ Fengyi suggested.
’There’s no need for that,‘ Nan Qingyi flatly rejected the proposal, “The source of the Nine Provinces is now obvious, it’s Chengdu. We’ll just go out and take a look at Chengdu.”
’If we can’t decipher the civilization of the Shifeng tribe, what will we do when we get to Chengdu, just look at it?’ Feng’s words left Nan Qingyi speechless.
Coming out of the altar, the group stood on the top of the altar and looked south. They could see that Chengdu was towering between heaven and earth, a magnificent sight. To the east of the ‘homeland’ were three islands. Although they were called islands, they were floating on the water and were currently rising and falling with the waves.
‘There’s something strange about these islands. Should we go up and take a look?’ Professor Wu suggested.
‘Let’s go.’ The wind blew.
The city walls were too high, so everyone had to squeeze through the small drainage holes and then leap out of the city and into the sea, swimming towards the island.
Gradually, everyone swam to an island. The island did not have any foundations, and was completely floating on the water. The island was not very big, only about one square kilometre, with plains and mountains, pavilions and halls, all in a well-proportioned arrangement, but all covered in silt, with all kinds of aquatic plants and animals attached to it. Of course, all of this is commonplace. What makes this island different is that, apart from floating on the water, there is also a windmill towering above the ground. The windmill is in the centre of the island, and a series of trenches extending from the side of the windmill seem to be an irrigation system.
The group walked around the island, but didn’t find anything. Just as they were becoming discouraged, Shen Yuan suggested, ‘There are two more islands up ahead. Let’s go and have a look. Maybe we’ll find something.’
These two islands were also quite small. One was not much different from the first one except that it did not have a windmill, while the other had a tall mountain at its northern end.
Although this island had been submerged for countless years, and the surface had long been covered with sediment and various aquatic organisms and microorganisms, Luo San could still vaguely see what it had looked like when it was like a fairyland. Luo San sighed and said, ‘If these islands had not been submerged, they would really have been a fairyland.’
‘A fairyland?‘ Professor Wu mused for a moment, then suddenly turned to Luo San and said, “Xiao Sanzi, I remember you saying that there are many giant turtles underwater, and the deeper you go, the bigger the giant turtles get, right?”
’Yes. What’s wrong?‘
’Nothing, just a random question.”
In the meantime, the group had already arrived at the foot of the island’s peak, which was not very high. The group quickly climbed to the top of the peak and discovered that there was a deep pit in the centre of the peak.
‘What is this?‘ Nan Qingyi asked, looking at the pit.
’A volcano,‘ Luo San said.
’Xiaosan, you really have no common sense. This island floats on the water. You don’t think there would be a volcano on an island without any foundation, do you?‘ Professor Wu gave Luo San a hard slap on the head.
’Huh. I hadn’t thought of that. Then what would this place be?‘
’What this place is used for, only the gods know,’ Fengyi suddenly blurted out.
‘God?‘
’On the map, there are three symbols representing gods to the east of the homeland, and they should be these three islands. If I’m not wrong, these three islands are where the gods live.‘
’Unfortunately, the gods haven’t left anything here,’ Professor Wu sighed, “never mind, let’s go back.”
The group walked to the edge of the island and were about to go into the water one after the other when suddenly a huge current rushed over. In a hurry, Luo San jumped backwards, crashing heavily into Shen Yuan’s body.
‘Sorry,‘ Luo San hurriedly apologised.
’It’s fine, what happened?‘ Shen Yuan asked in shock, looking out at the sea in front of them.
Luo San looked back, but saw that the sea above them had suddenly become turbulent, surging in one direction. Several members of the Nanquan tribe who had already jumped in earlier had all been swept away by the sea.
’Let’s go to the top of the mountain to see what’s going on,’ Professor Wu said, and he started running towards the peak.
Standing on the top of the mountain, Luo San saw that on the east side of the island, a huge whirlpool had appeared without warning. The whirlpool already had a diameter of nearly a kilometre and was thousands of metres deep, but it was still expanding non-stop, like a black hole, sucking everything around it in, including several members of the Nanqingyi tribe.
Seeing the whirlpool’s power growing stronger and stronger, Luo San couldn’t help but worry about the safety of the island.
‘Professor Wu, do you think this island will be sucked into the whirlpool?‘ Luo San asked in between breaths.
’I don’t think so. This whirlpool must not be new. The island has been here for so many years and has survived so far, so it will survive this too.‘
’How do you know this whirlpool isn’t new?‘
’If I’m not mistaken, the place where this whirlpool is located is the Guixu mentioned in the Bashu pictographic language that we saw in front of the black water throne earlier. The legend of Guixu is of an unfathomable valley in the sea, where all the waters converge. The Liezi Tangwen mentions…there is a great chasm, in fact, it is an unfathomable valley, with no bottom, called Guixu. It is also mentioned in the Shanhaijing.‘
’When will this thing disappear? Do we have to stay here forever?‘
’I hope it won’t be for long. If it takes a day, we’re in trouble.’
Fortunately, the whirlpool came quickly and went quickly. After more than 20 minutes, it disappeared.
The shocked Nan Qingyi said to the others, ‘Let’s go, let’s get out of this hellhole. Let’s hurry and find the secret of the Shifeng tribe. I’ve thought it through. Isn’t there a pattern of the Xirangyu marked on the map? That pattern is under the “homeland”. Let’s go immediately to the bottom of the “homeland” and look for it.’
‘Homeland’ is suspended in the water, and there is nothing else under it. Everyone can only hope for the bottom of “Homeland”. The bottom of Homeland is made up of a single piece of rock, smooth and flat, now attached to various microorganisms, slippery and impossible to see its original appearance. It is not easy to find any clues here. Luo San then suggested that Shen Yuan take out the Restoring Jade to see if anything could be discovered.
The Jade of Resting Earth did indeed possess mysterious powers. As soon as Shen Yuan took it out, everyone noticed that the jade was emitting a faint dark green light, and the inside of the jade was flowing like water. The black dot in the middle of the jade was swimming around inside.
Suddenly, the Shixiangyu jade shook in Shen Yuan’s palm, and then it flew up. Luo San quickly reached out and grabbed the jade.
‘Xiao Sizi, let go quickly and let this jade take us to find the secret of Shifeng,’ Professor Wu said, stopping him.
‘No,’ Luo San said, gripping it even tighter. However, he saw everyone looking at him in surprise. He just wanted to ask what was going on, but then he became confused and lost consciousness.
Chapter 31: The Ten Gods
Luo San woke up, but found himself lying in a hospital bed. Shen Yuan, Professor Wu, Feng Yi and the others were by his side. When they saw him wake up, Shen Yuan couldn’t help but be overjoyed: ‘Little San, I’m so glad you’re awake.’
‘What happened to me?’
‘You don’t remember?’
“I only remember grabbing the jade and you all looking at me in surprise. I don’t remember anything after that.’
It turned out that when Luo San grabbed the jade, Professor Wu tried to stop him, but Luo San refused point-blank. Not only that, but Luo San’s expression became hideous. Everyone was shocked to see this, and they were at a loss for what to do when they heard another cry of alarm. They looked back and saw that the cry had come from a member of the Nanqingyi clan. Everyone looked in the direction he was looking, and saw that the Homeland had begun to shake uncontrollably, but there was no water flowing around it, so it was obvious that the shaking was not caused by the water.
Just as everyone was wondering why the Homeland was shaking, it began to shake even more violently. This time everyone understood that the force of the shaking came from within.
The violent shaking made it seem as if the Home was about to fall apart. Finally, a piece of rock fell off the bottom of the Home, which had originally appeared to be made of a single piece of rock, and flew towards the crowd. Everyone hurriedly avoided it, but they saw Luo San reach out instead and pat the breathing jade in his hand onto the rock. As soon as the rock came into contact with the breathing jade, it immediately became the same as the breathing jade, completely dark green.
While everyone’s attention was on the rock, Professor Wu noticed that the bottom of the ‘homeland’ had lost a rock and a large hole had appeared. Seawater was pouring into the hole, and at the same time, the bottom of the ‘homeland’ began to fall apart. In an instant, the ‘homeland’ began to sink rapidly. Everyone was being crushed by the ‘homeland’ and sinking rapidly.
At that moment, Luo Siyi waved his hand, and a current of water gushed out from the rock in his hand. The water was not large, but it lifted the entire ‘homeland’. Taking this opportunity, everyone scrambled to escape from the bottom of the ‘homeland’.
After escaping from the bottom of the ‘home’, Professor Wu urged everyone to quickly swim upstream. At this time, a large amount of water rushed from the direction of Guixu, and the sea began to rise again. Therefore, everyone quickly swam upstream. Just as they were about to reach the sky, Shen Yuan, who was sharp-eyed, suddenly let out an exclamation. Everyone looked in the direction she was looking, and saw a very small bright light in the depths of the sea in the west. At this time, everyone felt that the surrounding sea water had become warmer.
‘This Candle Nine Yin is really persistent, he’s followed us all this way.‘
’He was probably somewhere else before, but the appearance of the Restraining Earth and Jade attracted him here. We need to find a way to escape.”
The group quickly swam towards “Chengdu”. Although they knew that by doing so they would be even closer to Candle Nine Yin, the exit in the women’s toilet of the Four Teachings near Chengdu was the only way they could escape for a short period of time.
Since they were fleeing for their lives, the group’s speed was undoubtedly much faster. In less than ten minutes, the group had already arrived in front of ‘Chengdu’, and the entrance was not far above their heads. However, the temperature of the seawater was already making everyone feel the heat. Candle Nine Yin was getting closer and closer, and it was rapidly approaching.
‘Hurry, hurry,‘ Professor Wu yelled, urging everyone to swim towards the entrance above their heads. The entrance was very small, only big enough for one person to pass through, and it was vertical. Nan Qingyi told Luo San to go first, but Luo San refused, telling everyone to go first.
’Xiao Sanzi, stop messing around. We’re here because so many people died for this rock. If you don’t go first, what if you die and this rock is destroyed? Why don’t you give the rock to Professor Wu and let him go first.‘
’I won’t give this rock to anyone,‘ Luo San’s voice was low and completely different from the past.
’Then you go first.‘
’You go first.‘
’What’s the fuss? If we had this much time, everyone would have left,‘ Professor Wu yelled, “Girl, you go first.”
’Yes, Yuan, you go first.‘
’No, we go together,’
‘Nonsense, I’ll go first.’ Feng Yi said and swam towards the cave entrance.
The cave entrance was extremely small, and it was difficult to stretch one’s hands and feet inside, so Feng Yi had a hard time swimming upstream. After the whole person entered the passage, Professor Wu also did not bother with the others, entering the passage, followed by Nan Qingyi and his clan, and finally Shen Yuan and Luo San.
Struggling to advance through the tunnel, none of the group knew what was happening beneath their feet, but they could clearly feel the water getting warmer and warmer, and their exposed skin was burning. Shen Yuan looked down, and saw that the hole beneath their feet was much brighter than before. At this moment, Luo San disappeared.
‘Xiao Sanzi, where are you?’
Luo San didn’t answer, but the others started asking:
“Girl, Xiao Sanzi, what’s wrong?’
‘Shen Yuan, what’s Little San doing now?‘
’Damn, this kid is really strange.‘
At that moment, everyone heard a long shout coming from the depths of the ocean, the cry of Candle Nine Yin.
Not long after hearing the sound, a wave of heat came from below, and the crowd was swept away by the heat wave, emerging from the water one after the other.
’What is this place?’ Feng Yi asked as he got up from the squat toilet.
‘The female toilet of the S University.‘
’The toilet?‘
’Don’t worry, no one has used it for decades.‘
’Is this also the Eye of the Sea?‘ Feng Yi suddenly saw the stone in the women’s toilet as he spoke, “I understand, this stone must be the part of the ”Chengdu’ that protrudes from the ground.‘
’This is the part of the ‘Chengdu’ that protrudes from the ground?’ Professor Wu didn’t say anything, but Nan Qingyi asked.
‘I think it must be if I’m not wrong.‘
’Then this stone must be the Haiyan Town Stone that Xiaosan mentioned,’ Nan Qingyi said happily. ’Why is it so quiet here? Professor Wu, you seem to know this place very well.’
‘Fortunately.‘
’What’s going on here?‘
’Let’s talk about it later. Xiao Sizi’s still missing.‘
People emerged from the cubicles of the women’s toilets one after the other. The last one to come out was Shen Yuan. When the others reached out to help her, they found her surprisingly heavy.
’I’m holding onto Xiao Sizi, so be careful.”
Luo San was unconscious when he was pulled up, but he was still holding onto the rock tightly.
‘Hurry, let’s go.’ As Luo San was unconscious, Shen Yuan anxiously groped the wall and quickly discovered that the invisible door was still open.
After leaving the women’s toilet in the fourth teaching building, Shen Yuan immediately took Luo San to the nearest Chengdu Seventh Hospital. At the hospital, apart from not waking up, Luo San was otherwise normal. There was nothing to do but observe him lying in bed.
‘Where’s the stone?‘ Luo San asked after listening to everyone’s story.
’It’s in your arms,’ Shen Yuan said.
Hearing Shen Yuan say that, Luo San realised that he was still holding the stone tightly. So he sat up and checked the stone.
The stone was carved with nothing but a cloud.
The pattern was outlined by simple lines, and the whole shape was indeed no different from a cloud. No one could make out what it was. Luo San stared at the cloud for a long time, and after a while, he felt that the cloud moved a little, as if it were a real cloud. He couldn’t help but feel excited, and when he stared at the cloud again, it was motionless again. Luo San knew that what he had just seen was not his own imagination, but that there was really something strange about the cloud pattern. So he once again stared closely at the Tu’an case. Sure enough, soon after, the clouds in front of him began to move again. This time, Luo San dared not be distracted, but stared intently at the moving clouds. Gradually, Luo San felt that the clouds in front of him were moving and changing faster and faster, and there were more and more clouds. The whole person felt as if they were in the clouds. Slowly, Luo San seemed to have passed through the thick clouds and saw the scene beneath them. It was an endless expanse of water, with three small, green, tree-covered islands scattered across the azure surface. On one of the islands, a huge windmill was turning in the windless air, with something like grooves extending from it in all directions. At that moment, the sea suddenly rose in waves, and the three islands actually swayed and moved with the waves.
Not far to the east of the three islands, Luo San saw the city. From this high vantage point, he could clearly see the huge city floating above the water, with its streets and people the size of beans. Looking further east, Luo San saw a mountain rising up from the sea and reaching up to the clouds. The top of the mountain was shrouded in clouds, adding to its sense of mystery. The peak became thinner the higher it went, and Luo San first thought that it was connected to the huge rock in the women’s toilet in the Four Teachings Building. However, that peak was different from what Luo San had seen, appearing much rounder, while the peak Luo San had seen was flat. At the same time, Luo San also noticed that the azure sky and the peak were connected by a piece of azure sky, which was not a motley colour like what he had seen in the Underground Ocean a few days ago. It seems that the motley colours appeared later. Just as Luo San was thinking this, he suddenly saw two small islands in the distance, propelled by the tens of metres high giant waves, rushing towards the mountain peak with a force that could overturn the mountains and the seas. ‘Ah!’ Luo San couldn’t help but let out a cry of surprise, but in the midst of the cry, the islands had already crashed into the mountain peak. Amidst a deafening loud noise, Luo San, although in the air, could feel a violent shaking between the heavens and the earth. Immediately afterwards, Luo San saw a large hole appear at the point where the mountain peak met the sky, and countless amounts of water gushed in. Half of the mountain peak collapsed with a loud noise, and the entire mountain suddenly looked like what Luo San had seen in the underground ocean a few days ago. At this time, the sea was also surging with ferocious waves, and a large amount of water was also gushing out from the depths of the seabed. At this moment, a giant python soared into the air from one of the other three islands. When Luo San looked intently, he realised that it was not a giant python, but the Candle Nine Yin. On the Candle Nine Yin sat a person. Judging from the figure, it seemed to be a woman. Almost in an instant, the Candle Nine Yin had arrived beneath the large hole in the sky… At this moment, Luo San suddenly felt a piercing cold on his back, and he immediately shivered. The scene in front of him immediately turned into the scene in the hospital room.
‘You’re awake.’ Luo San heard Professor Wu let out a long breath, and the chill in his back immediately disappeared. He turned his head to look, but found that it was Shen Yuan standing behind him, her face still pale with shock. Luo San understood that she must have used some method to wake him up after seeing that he hadn’t woken up for a long time. He couldn’t help but smile at Shen Yuan, saying, ’It’s nothing, don’t worry.’
‘No, I’m not worried. You were staring at the picture, and in no time your eyes closed and you didn’t move. No matter what I did, you wouldn’t wake up. The girl was so worried.’ Professor Wu interrupted.
Luo San then understood what had happened, smiled apologetically at Shen Yuan, and told everyone what he had just seen.
The others didn’t seem to mind, but Professor Wu couldn’t help but sigh, ‘Xiaosan, the secret of “Chengdu” is in the scene you just saw. Unfortunately, you didn’t see what happened afterwards.’
‘That’s easy, I’ll just go and watch again,’ Luo San said, before suddenly stopping and exclaiming, ‘Why don’t you guys go and watch?’
‘Damn it!’ Professor Wu scolded with a smile, ‘We’ve been watching for ages and it’s all the same. Only you can see that scene. I really don’t know what kind of monster you are.’
Luo San was not offended, and smiled at the crowd, saying, ‘I’m not a monster, I’m a bird person.’ After that, he ignored the crowd and once again stared intently at the pattern of clouds. After a long time, the pattern of clouds was still just a pattern of clouds, not moving at all. ‘No, I’ve been infected by you. No matter how hard I look, it’s just a picture,’ Luo San sighed as his back ached from looking.
‘Take a break for a while, and try again later,’ Shen Yuan said softly to comfort him.
Luo San nodded, and after a while, he looked up again and continued to stare at the pattern, only this time, no matter what, all he saw was still just the pattern.
‘No more, no more,’ after a few times like this, Luo San completely lost his patience, “Mom. What the hell is this?” Luo San said, reaching out his hand and slapping the cloud pattern a few times. Unexpectedly, the pattern immediately changed again, transforming into another pattern. Then this pattern flashed for just a moment, and then it turned into another pattern. In this way, within just a minute, a total of hundreds of patterns flashed past everyone’s eyes.
‘The pictographic language of Bashu!‘ Professor Wu exclaimed, “Brother Feng, quickly tell us what it means.”
Feng Yi didn’t seem to hear Professor Wu’s exclamation, and kept staring at the Bashu pictographs that flashed past. Soon, all the Bashu pictographs disappeared, and only the cloud pattern remained above everyone’s heads.
’What do these Bashu pictographs mean?’ Seeing that Feng Yi was taking his time to speak, Professor Wu asked anxiously.
‘Let me think.‘ Feng Yi was still deep in thought, and it took a long time before he spoke, “I recognise some of the characters, but I don’t know what they mean. But they seem to be just place names or personal names, so they shouldn’t affect the overall meaning.”
’Then tell us quickly,’ Professor Wu urged.
Feng Yi immediately said, ’Since the beginning of time, our people from the Wind Clan have lived here with the Heishui, Qiongdu, and Bai people. We call this place the bowels of the gods. Here, the gods built a huge city for us, where we live by fishing and hunting on the sea. There are also five islands in the sea, which we call… There are five words here that I don’t know, and I guess they are also names. No one has ever been sure of the location of these five islands, because they are all drifting. Even if we happen to come to the front of the island, we cannot get to the island, and they always avoid our whereabouts. It is said that there is a group of people with great magical powers living on three of the islands to the east of the ‘homeland’. Later, Qiongdu and the Bai were taken to other places by the gods, and only the Heishui remained with us. For a long time, the tribes lived in harmony, but in the end, the Heishui tribe became increasingly brutal and inhumane, always trying to rule the Ten Wind tribes as their slaves and occupy our ‘homeland’. They were numerous and skilled in the use of water, and for a time they gained the upper hand. But thanks to divine intervention, their leader fled to the sea and hid on two islands where Qiongdu and the white people lived. He eventually caused the two islands to crash into Chengdu, which was damaged, causing a hole to appear in the sky. Floods raged, and in the end, the gods used great magical power to seal the hole in the sky. But the rising sea water had already made it uninhabitable for us, so we had no choice but to leave.’ Fengyi paused after saying this and said, ’That’s all there is to it.’
‘Intestines? Three islands? Mending the sky? Giant turtle?‘ Professor Wu mumbled these words, thinking hard. Suddenly, he said excitedly to the group, “I know the secret of the sea eye.”
’You know?’ the group asked in surprise.
Professor Wu said confidently to the group, ’Of course.’
‘Then tell us,‘ Feng Yidao said.
Professor Wu dared not keep anyone in suspense any longer and said confidently, “The secret of the sea eye is in the mountain connected to the huge rock in the women’s toilet of the Fourth Teaching Building that Xiaosan saw. That mountain is none other than the famous Mount Buzhou.”
’How is that possible? How could Mount Buzhou be in this place? That’s a legend from the Central Plains. Oh, that’s right, you said the source of the legends from the Central Plains is in this underground sea,’ Luo San said.
Professor Wu continued, ‘I had Xiao Sizi’s question before, but then I figured it out. Because I remembered a sentence from the Classic of Mountains and Seas: There are ten gods, named after the intestines of Nuwa, who turned into gods and are in the field of Li Guang. This sentence almost completely matches the situation here. There are ten gods, which refers to the ten winds, and the intestines of Nuwa are even mentioned in the Ba Shu map language just now, the intestines of the gods.’
‘Why is this place called such an odd name?‘ Luo San couldn’t help but ask.
Professor Wu smiled and said, “This is actually a very simple matter. What does this ocean look like?”
’I don’t know,‘ Luo San shook his head.
’Get to the point and stop being so evasive,’ Feng Yileng snapped.
Professor Wu was met with a rebuff, but he remained smiling, as if he was very proud of his discovery: ’This underground ocean is wrapped in this huge space, just like a womb that is nurturing life.’
‘Womb? Haha, I don’t know anything about that,‘ Luo San laughed.
Professor Wu looked at Luo San and Shen Yuan with a smile that was half-smile and said, “You will know in the future. In the eyes of ancient people, the womb was part of the intestines, so this place was called the intestines of Nuwa.”
’So that’s it.’
‘Following this reasoning, we can conclude that the place where the legend of Nuwa took place was in this underground sea, that is, in Nuwa’s intestines. In fact, there is other evidence to prove this. Ancient books record that Nuwa was born in the mountain of Chengzhu. Chengdu is just a homophone for Chengzhu, and Chengzhu Mountain is Chengdu. Once we understand that the legend of Nüwa took place in this ocean, then a series of related legends must also have taken place here. The most important legends of Nüwa are naturally the creation of humans, mending the sky and Mount Wuzhou. The creation of humans by Nüwa is easy to solve. Brother Feng said that the Qiongdu people were created by Nüwa. At first we thought that although their legend originated from Nüwa, they must have migrated from the Central Plains, but now it seems that their legend originated here. As for the legend of Tian Mian (the Sky Fixer), we can also find the answer in Sichuan. There has long been a legend in the area around Ya’an, Sichuan, that when Nüwa was fixing the sky, she ran out of stones when she got to the sky above Ya’an. So there is still a hole in the sky over Ya’an today, forming the shape of a sky leak. That is why Ya’an now gets a lot of rain and is known as the City of Rain. From the scene seen by the third son, we can see that after the mountain was hit by the island, a hole was created in the sky and the water rushed down, causing a great flood in the ocean. This all matches the legend of Gonggong’s anger at Mount Buzhou and Nüwa’s attempt to mend the sky, so I conclude that the legend of Nüwa mending the sky happened here, and that mountain is Mount Buzhou. And this is the secret of the sea eye. The secret is: to subdue the Eye of the Sea, the only way is to mend the sky again.‘
’Mend the sky again? How?‘ Luo San and Nan Qingyi asked in unison.
’How? Of course by learning from Nüwa and refining the five-coloured stones to mend the sky,‘ Professor Wu said.
’But this is all myth, how can this be something that really happened?’ Nan Qingyi said.
‘Not all legends are based on reality. Although the story of Nüwa mending the sky is quite extraordinary, as you can see, inside Nüwa’s intestines, there is already a world of its own. If the ancients had never seen Nüwa mend the sky, they would not have created such a legend. Now we must try it no matter what, otherwise if the sea eye loses its restraint, the consequences will be unimaginable,‘ said Professor Wu.
’The question is which parts to mend and how to refine the five-coloured stone?’
‘As for what to mend, I think it’s mostly the un-mended piece of sky on Mount Zhou and the crack on Mount Zhou. But the problem is how to refine the five-coloured stone underwater at the bottom of the sea.‘
’And where to find the five-coloured stone.‘
’That’s a problem.‘ Professor Wu patted his head and fell into deep thought again.
’I know where the five-coloured stone is,’ After a while, Professor Wu exclaimed excitedly like a child, but the only thing that answered him was the cold, two-character reply, ‘Where?’
‘The immortal mountains of the East Sea.’ Professor Wu was equally stingy with words, but when Feng Yileng gave him a cold glare, he hastily spoke up, ‘According to ancient legends, there is a bottomless bottomless abyss in a very remote place above the East Sea called “Gui Xu”. Due to the existence of “Gui Xu”, all the rivers flow back to it, and the sea will never overflow. Legend has it that not far from the Guixu, there are five floating mountains in the sea, named Daiyu, Yuanqiao, Fanghu, Yingzhou and Penglai. The mountains are lofty and straight, and there are many beautiful pavilions and halls on them, where the gods live and entertain. These five mountains have no foundation, and they are like drifting boats on the sea…‘
’No foundation? Like drifting boats? That’s the same as the three islands I saw,‘ exclaimed Luo San.
’Exactly,‘ nodded Professor Wu, “and Guixu is right next to that island.”
’But didn’t the Eastern Sea Immortal Mountains have five peaks? Why are there only three that we can see?’ Luo San was still a little confused. Suddenly, he realised, ’Oh, that’s right, if you add the two mountains that crashed into Mount Buzhou. Then why are there only three that we can see now? Were they sunk?’
‘Maybe. That’s just what the legend says. Because the five mountains have no foundation, they are gradually drifting towards the cold, dark north pole, where the sun doesn’t shine and the moon doesn’t reach. In order to save the five immortal mountains and save them from their predicament, the sea god Yuqiang found 15 giant divine turtles and ordered them to form groups of three. Each group would have one divine turtle carrying one of the immortal mountains, while the other two would guard them. The rotation would take place every 60,000 years. At first, the immortals were very happy because the giant turtles were so loyal to their duties that the immortal mountains no longer drifted north. However, this good fortune did not last long. One day, a few giants arrived from the Kingdom of Dragon Elder, which was far away from the sea. These giants were as tall as towering trees and even when standing in the sea, they could still show half of their bodies. They usually went in and out of the sea and relied on catching giant turtles and giant turtles in the sea for food. This time, when they arrived in the sea, they saw that the giant turtles were tilting their heads, carrying huge mountains on their backs, and floating motionlessly on the surface of the sea. So they threw bait at the giant turtles. The giant turtles had not eaten anything good for tens of millions of years, and as soon as they saw the bait being held out to them, they couldn’t wait to swallow it. As a result, the divine turtles became the prey of the giants, who killed and feasted on them without mercy. Fortunately, the giants only captured the six sacred turtles from Daiyu and Yuanqiao, so Fanghu, Yingzhou and Penglai were left unharmed. Daiyu and Yuanqiao lost the support of the sacred turtles and drifted straight towards the poles with the currents and gales. The immortals living on these two immortal mountains had to move in a hurry to the other three mountains. Soon, the two immortal mountains drifted to the end of the sea and sank to the dark seabed. Since then, there have only been three immortal mountains above the East China Sea.”
Professor Wu paused here and said, ’The reason I am certain that the three islands are the three immortal mountains of the East China Sea is that, apart from the fact that they are both floating on the water and there is a Guixu nearby, another characteristic is that there are a particularly large number of giant turtles in the underground ocean, which is consistent with the myths and legends.’
Feng Yileng interrupted: ‘What does the Xianshan in the East Sea have to do with the Wucai Stone? That’s the answer I want.’
Professor Wu was not annoyed: ‘Legend has it that the Wucai Stone, which Nüwa needed to mend the sky, was taken from one of the mountains in the Xianshan in the East Sea, in other words, one of the three small islands.’
‘Go to the three islands and find the Wucai Stone.’
‘The three islands are not small, how are we going to find it?’ Luo San immediately asked another question.
‘Legend has it that there was a place called the Sky-Mending Terrace where Nuwa mended the sky,‘ said Professor Wu. “Even if there is no Sky-Mending Terrace, there should be relics related to sky-mending, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find.”
’Okay, let’s go to those three islands,’ Luo San said, and tried to get down, but was stopped by Professor Wu: ’Take a break, everyone is tired. Let’s contact Yan Qingbo and see if he has any clues about the people from the Great Tang Empire. Otherwise, I’m afraid that once we fix the sky, it will be destroyed again.‘
’Yes, these two steps need to be taken at the same time,‘ Feng Yidao said.
’By the way, why isn’t Nan Qingyi here?‘ Luo San asked.
’No, he went back to find his clan,’ Shen Yuan said.
Chapter 32: The Dragon Slaying Society
It was already 11 pm when everyone arrived at Yan Qingbo’s house as requested.
‘Look who else is in my house,’ Yan Qingbo said excitedly after opening the door. Behind him, Liu Fufeng was smiling at everyone.
‘Liu, where have you been these past few days?’ Luo San and Shen Yuan were overjoyed to suddenly see Liu Fufeng appear unharmed.
‘I was captured. I almost couldn’t see everyone again.‘ When it comes to matters of life and death, Liu Fu Feng speaks very casually.
’Who captured you?‘
’I don’t know.‘
’Xiao Liu just escaped. Just now, while I was waiting for you, I received a call from her, so I let her come along.”
At this time, Professor Wu asked Yan Qingbo, ’Have you investigated the true origins of Nan Qingyi? What did you say before that this person doesn’t exist?’
‘No, there is no such person. There is no information about him at all, not even in the files. I don’t even know how he got into the university.‘
’Is there no way we can find out who he is?‘
’No, I have a friend who is a master hypnotist. He used hypnosis on the Indian ghost we caught a few days ago and found out their secret. It turns out that the Indian ghost is a member of the Indian branch of the Dragon Slaying Society, and Nan Qingyi is also a key figure in the Dragon Slaying Society.‘
’Dragon Slaying Society? What kind of organisation is that?’
‘The Dragon Slaying Society is an international organisation with branches in countries all over the world. It has more than 1,000 members worldwide…‘
’More than 1,000 members? Did I hear that right?’
‘Xiaosan, don’t interrupt me, you heard me correctly. There are only about 1,000 members of the Dragon Slaying Society. This is because the organisation is so secretive and strange that it is very selective about who it admits as members. Each new member must be recommended by at least three existing members, and then formally admitted at the annual general meeting, where all members must vote in favour. At the same time, all members must be China experts. Xiaosan, don’t interrupt me and ask questions. I’m finished, so you can speak again.’
It turned out that the Dragon Slaying Society was founded on 4 September 1945, and its first president was a former Soviet citizen named Ablesov, who served as the consul of the former Soviet government in Xinjiang, China in the 1930s. At that time, Sheng Shicai, the Xinjiang Border Defense Supervisor, in order to consolidate his rule and get rid of the Nationalist government at the same time, made great efforts to ingratiate himself with Stalin, and Soviet forces entered Xinjiang openly or covertly. Ablesov was a representative figure of the Soviet forces entering Xinjiang. He gathered intelligence all over Xinjiang, determined to turn Xinjiang into a Soviet republic. Sheng Shicai also made a request to the Soviet government in 1933, when he first came to power, to have Xinjiang designated as Soviet territory in order to gain Stalin’s support and consolidate his own power. In January 1941, Sheng Shicai again proposed to the Soviet government the establishment of the Xinjiang Soviet Republic and its joining the Soviet Union, because the Nationalist government was gaining more and more control over Xinjiang. However, the Soviet Union did not agree to either proposal, fearing the Nationalist government and also because it wanted to use China to contain Japan. This greatly discouraged Ablesov, who believed that the Soviet government had missed a great opportunity to divide up China. He decided that in his lifetime, he would use his abilities to make Xinjiang another Soviet Union republic. At this time, a lieutenant colonel and battalion commander named Dongfang Muyi from the Xinjiang Border Defense Office came to the door.
Dongfang Muyi told Ablesov that Sheng Shicai’s rule of Xinjiang was not bringing enough benefits to the Soviet Union, and that if the Soviet government supported him in a coup to overthrow Sheng Shicai, he would be willing to allow the Soviets to have more interests in Xinjiang and ensure that Xinjiang would become a Soviet republic. Dongfang Muyi also specially presented a gold tablet to Ablesov as a sign of good faith, and the name of this gold tablet was ‘The Book of Ancient Yuedu’. He said that if the secret in the gold tablet could be found, China could be completely destroyed, and all of China’s territory would become collective farms in Russia.
At first, Ablesov ignored the gold tablet, thinking it was nonsense. Dongfang Muyi had to tell Ablesov the origin of the gold tablet.
From Yan Qingbo’s account, Luo San discovered that Dongfang Muyi’s story about the origin of the golden platinum was the same as Nan Qingyi’s. Since Nan Qingyi was a member of the Dragon Slaying Society, it was not surprising that he knew about it, but whether Nan Qingyi had fabricated the story about the Southern Dragon Badge or whether it was true was still unknown. Luo San was thinking about this when he heard Yan Qingbo continue, ‘Due to opposition from the Soviet government, Ablesov was unable to support Dongfang Muyi in launching a coup. However, the unexpected acquisition of the Jinbao caused Ablesov to temporarily abandon the idea of making Xinjiang a Soviet Republic, and instead set his sights on incorporating the entire country into the Soviet Union. At this time, Dongfang Muyi, the only person who knew the secret of the Jinbao, became the first person he had to get rid of. Just as he was about to do something to Dongfang Muyi, the cunning Dongfang Muyi saw the danger and ran away in advance.
Ablyasov had no choice but to intensify his research into the contents of the Golden Plate, but with little effect. On 3 September 1945, after Japan officially surrendered to China without conditions, Ablyasov decided to establish an international organisation dedicated to the research of the Golden Plate and the eventual destruction of China. Because China was the target, the name of the organisation was the Dragon Slaying Society.
This was after World War II, when many colonial countries had gained independence. When a country is used to being oppressed, its greatest wish is to oppress other countries. There are many such extremists in South Asia, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Western Asia. These extremists regard China as their greatest enemy, so they have joined the Dragon Slaying Society. After decades of development, the members of the Dragon Slaying Society are all over the world. Of course, there are more than 1,000 people on the ground who are the backbone and full members. If you add the personnel of other peripheral organisations, there are hundreds of thousands of people. Nan Qingyi is young, but for some reason, he has become the secretary-general of the Dragon Slaying Society.
Fifteen years ago, the Dragon Slaying Society discovered that the secret of the ‘Guye Du Jing’ was in Chengdu, so they sent a large number of people to infiltrate Chengdu and move around to find out what was going on. However, the investigation was slow to progress, and it wasn’t until a few months ago that they made a breakthrough and set about destroying the stone array. However, after destroying the stone array, they found that it did not have the effect they expected, so they set their sights on you.
‘Damn, so we weren’t used as cannon fodder,’ Luo San cursed, ‘no wonder he kept leading me on.’
‘Yes. We were used as cannon fodder,‘ Professor Wu said. “But it’s not your fault, it’s mine. I noticed that there was something wrong with him from the start, but I was careless and thought that we could use his various advanced equipment to find the relevant secrets. I never expected to be taken advantage of by him.”
’You noticed that there was something wrong with him a long time ago, so why didn’t you tell me?‘
’I wanted to warn you about him, but I was afraid that you would give yourself away, so I didn’t say anything.’
‘How did you discover that he was problematic?‘
’His appearance.’ Professor Wu explained to him that the Yue people, in addition to their unique beliefs, folkways, customs, and language, also have their own unique appearance. Their lips are thicker, their noses are flatter, and their noses are larger, which is a classic garlic nose. This characteristic makes them extremely recognisable in appearance. However, Nan Qingyi, who claimed to be a descendant of the Yue people, did not have any of these characteristics in his appearance.
‘Nan Qingyi claims to be a descendant of the Luo Yue?‘ Liu Fufeng exclaimed in surprise.
’Yes, Liu, what’s the problem?‘
’Apart from claiming to be a descendant of the Luo Yue, what else did he say he was?‘
’He also said that his great-grandfather Nan Longzhang was the adopted son of Huang Xing, and he even took us to a house…’
‘I understand, it was this son of a bitch who captured me and hypnotised me,’ said Liu Fufeng angrily. ’That day, I was captured and woke up and have been kept in captivity ever since. It must be that guy Nan Qingyi who hypnotised me and used my information to impersonate me and deceive you. Professor Wu, did you conclude that he was lying just based on his appearance?
‘No, I just started to suspect him from that moment on. But on the one hand, I thought that his ancestors were not from the Luo Yue people, and it was understandable that his appearance did not have the characteristics of the Luo Yue people. On the other hand, I thought that he was young, and even if he was lying, it would not be a problem. And I also wanted to follow the clues to find out who was behind them, so I didn’t expose him.’ Professor Wu shook his head as he spoke, as if he was still afraid of the consequences of belittling Nan Qingyi.
‘If I say that at first I only suspected that he was lying, but after meeting Nan Yi and the others, I was certain that he was lying…‘ Professor Wu said.
’Because Nan Yi and the others didn’t look like any of the Luyue people?‘ Luo San asked.
’Not only that, but because they were lying,’ Professor Wu said. ’Nan Yi and the others clearly entered Sichuan during the Kangxi Emperor’s Huguang to Sichuan campaign, but they insisted that they had only come to Xichang from Guangxi ten years ago.
‘Why do you say that?’ Shen Yuan, who had been listening quietly, suddenly asked.
Professor Wu looked at the group with a smug expression and said, “Young people, learn from this.” Normally, Shen Yuan would have retorted, but she had already learned that this was Professor Wu’s temperament, so she just snorted slightly. Luo San, on the other hand, said excitedly to Professor Wu, ’Tell us.’
‘You all know about the Huguang filling Sichuan incident, don’t you?’ Professor Wu saw everyone nod, so he continued, ’At the end of the Ming Dynasty, after Zhang Xianzhong established a puppet regime in Sichuan, he carried out a frenzied massacre of the people under his rule, causing the population of Sichuan to plummet, to the extent that there were only a few dozen or even just a few households in a county. After the Manchus entered the country, they organised a campaign to fill Sichuan with people from Huguang because the population of Sichuan was really too small. It is said that there were quite favourable conditions in this movement to encourage the people of Huguang, with its large population and scarce land, to leave their original homes and enter Sichuan to cultivate the land. However, the Chinese have always been reluctant to leave their native land. Therefore, although some people moved to Sichuan voluntarily, many more were bound with ropes and escorted into Sichuan by the Eight Banners. Along the way, the scars from the ropes were left behind after the long journey of thousands of miles, and they accompanied those immigrants for the rest of their lives. Even hundreds of years later, their descendants can still be seen with a mark on the inside of their elbows, just like the ones that were made by the ropes back then…‘
’How is that even possible? Can scars be inherited?’ Luo San interrupted Professor Wu.
‘Sichuan is a place full of miracles. Many incredible things have happened here, and there are many things that cannot be explained by science.’ Professor Wu gave Luo San a cold stare and continued, ’Nan Yi and the others all have these marks on their hands, which obviously show that they are the descendants of the immigrants. So I asked him if he had lived here for a long time, but he said he had only moved here ten years ago. Obviously he was lying, and his purpose was to hide his true identity. Alas!’
‘Professor Wu, you don’t need to blame yourself. It’s not entirely your fault. Anyway, we still have time to make plans,‘ Liu Fufeng said, “In that case, I’ll immediately arrange for my people to take down their lair. Tell me where their place is.”
After Liu Fufeng left, Yan Qingbo said to the others, “There’s nothing to do for the time being, so let’s see what happened in Dongfang Bai’s mansion.”
’What?’
‘I have installed listening and video equipment in Dongfang Bai’s residence.’ Yan Qingbo said as he turned on the computer, which was an extremely advanced computer that Luo San and the others had never seen before. Two screens appeared on the computer, clearly showing two cameras in different directions.
Everyone could see that Nan Yi was sitting in the chair in the room with a pale face, his eyes slightly closed, looking extremely tired. Beside him stood a group of attendants, all of them diverse in appearance and colour. Although the large hall was full of people, not even a breath could be heard. After a long time, Nam Yi opened his eyes and looked towards the courtyard at the end of the hall. In the courtyard, four men were kneeling side by side, and next to them were the bodies of two other men. The bodies were in a horrible state, with almost no intact flesh on them. The four kneeling men all had foreign appearances and were also covered in wounds. Each of their faces were split open, and in particular, their eyes were both dark holes, with no eyeballs left.
After a long while, Nanyi sighed and said, ‘The Secretary-General didn’t mean to scold you when he was on the phone. I think the Secretary-General, out of consideration for the many years of friendship, won’t do anything to you. You shouldn’t blame yourselves too much. Instead of dying, you should atone for your crimes and capture the girl.’
Unexpectedly, the four men were bent on death, and they knelt on the ground without looking up, saying in unison, ‘We are incompetent, causing the escape of the wanted criminal. We now only seek death, and we will go to the road to the netherworld after seeing the Secretary-General once.’ These four foreigners not only spoke fluent Chinese, but also seemed to have Chinese thinking habits.
Nan Yi frowned and said, ‘Even if you are not giving me face, you should at least do it for the Secretary-General. It is only reasonable to temporarily put aside your desire to die and go with me to capture the wanted criminal first.’
‘We are incompetent, causing the wanted criminal to escape. Now we only seek death, and we will go to the netherworld as soon as we meet the Secretary-General.’ The four men still did not raise their heads, and in unison and word for word, recited the sentence again.
‘It was the Secretary-General’s intention to let you arrest the wanted criminal. You must not make one mistake and then try to make another.’ Seeing that the four men were stubborn, Nan Yi immediately lost his temper and shouted at them.
On hearing this, the four men did not recite the sentence again, but bowed and said, ‘We vow to follow the Secretary-General to the end. Since he commanded us, we will obey. We do not know what the Deputy Secretary-General wishes to say.’
Nan Yi said, ‘I hope you will explain in detail to everyone here about the girl’s escape last night. Although we are not talented, if we get together, we can probably come up with a way to catch the wanted woman.’
‘Yes!‘ said the four men.
’Someone, look after their seats!’ Nan Yi commanded his subordinates while addressing the four men, “You four don’t have to do that, let’s sit up and talk.”
After all four had settled down, Nan Yi asked, ’I wonder which one of you four would like to brief us?’
‘I am not talented, but I would like to talk about last night,‘ one of the men stood up and said. This man was tall, with a high nose and deep eyes.
’I remember you are a member of the Greek branch of our association, Alexander, right?‘
’Yes,’ Alexander said, ’that girl is the descendant of Huang Xingyi, a senior member of the Alliance. She is currently the cloth mother of a Yue village in Guangxi, that is, the shaman of the tribe. A year ago, she led a group of people to infiltrate the S Imperial Palace and tried to ruin our grand plan. The Secretary-General Ming Jian Wanli saw through the girl’s ulterior motives, so a few days ago he led six of my brothers to capture her by surprise. The Secretary-General immediately hypnotised her and learned the secret in her heart. He then pretended to be the girl and contacted several ignorant Han people to go to Xichang together to plot. ‘
’I know all of this, just tell me the important part,’ Nan Yi interrupted Alexander.
‘Yes. Before the Secretary-General left, he asked the six of us to keep a close watch on this girl. For several days, the six of us did not dare to take a single step outside the door, locked the doors and windows, did not dare to turn on the lights, took turns to rest, and kept a close watch on her. Nothing happened for several days, so we became negligent. Tonight, because it was hot and humid in the house, we opened the windows. At that time, Abraham and Mikoyan were on duty as guards. The four of us had not slept because we had been discussing things all night, and we were all asleep at that time.’ Although Alexander could not see, he pointed to the two bodies lying on the ground and said in a sad tone, ’I never thought that this would cost them their lives. At that time, the four of us were sleeping soundly when suddenly we heard a noise in the room, followed by Abraham and Mikoyan’s screams. We hurriedly got up and looked out the window, only to see a large group of dark things surrounding the two of them, and the girl was also surrounded by those dark things. The four of us immediately rushed forward, but we didn’t expect that after taking a few steps, the group of things pounced in front of us. We only felt a gust of wind, and our four eyes felt a sharp pain, and suddenly our vision went dark, and our eyes were gone…’
Alexander’s words seemed to be full of anger, and Luo San and the others couldn’t help but feel scared when they heard it through the video. It seemed that these people were all martial artists, and they were all first-class masters. The opponent was able to make them lose their eyes in an instant, so what kind of ability did they have? And what was that dark thing? It was really hard to understand. Thinking about this, Luo San couldn’t help but secretly feel grateful, at least this would be a strong support.
At this time, I heard Alexander Mu continue, ‘When we lost our sight, we were instantly in a panic. We wanted to shoot to attack, but we didn’t know where our opponents were, and we were afraid of hurting our own people. And just as we were at a loss, we heard a whistling sound in our ears, like the flapping of wings, and several parts of our bodies tingled. It seems that the skin and flesh in many places had been torn off.’
Luo San saw that his body was covered in strange-shaped wounds, some of which looked like they had been pierced by sharp objects, while others looked like the flesh had been ripped off. He wondered if it had been attacked by birds.
Sure enough, Alexander continued, ‘Although the four of us brothers can’t see anything, we have already guessed what is in front of us. It should be a group of birds, but I don’t know why the birds are attacking us like this. Now that I think about it, it was most likely sent by that girl.’ Luo San thought to himself, and sure enough,
‘Since there were so many birds and we couldn’t see clearly, we were afraid of injuring our own people and didn’t dare to shoot. Although we heard Abraham and Mikoyan’s miserable cries getting weaker and weaker, they finally stopped. There were light footsteps in the room, as if the girl was planning to escape. We immediately moved towards the door, but were blocked by the many birds. Polanski was even injured in the neck by a bird and was bleeding profusely, so the girl escaped.’
Nan Yi nodded and said, ‘It happened so suddenly, so you can’t be blamed. But how did you escape later?’
But Alexander said, ‘In the panic, I told everyone to form a circle with their backs to each other and wave their hands from the four directions, which scared the birds away. The four of us were able to protect ourselves. Later, perhaps because the girl had already escaped, the birds finally dispersed. We were able to save our lives.’
Luo San knew that Liu Fufeng had been so intent on escaping that he hadn’t meant to kill anyone. Otherwise, Nan Yi and the others would now have to speculate about what had wounded the six bodies.
In the video, the people in the hall were all speechless. Suddenly, another man among the four said, ‘The four of us have travelled around the world and killed no less than a thousand Chinese people. I never thought that one day, due to a moment of carelessness, we would fall into the hands of a young girl. We have missed an important mission and are certainly worthy of death. From now on, we will leave our lives in the hands of the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General.‘ Luo San looked at the man, who was full of murderous intent, and whose face had become even more hideous due to the loss of his eyesight. He heard the man say, “There is just one thing that we have been unable to let go of and that we need to tell the Secretary-General and our brothers. We beg the Secretary-General for his permission.”
’You may speak freely,’
‘Thank you, Deputy Secretary-General,’ the man said. ’The six of us have a few things to tell everyone after this battle. First, bird attacks are usually minor, but the birds were manipulated by someone, and once they engaged, they attacked our eyes and necks, so we had to defend ourselves. Second, when attacked by a flock of birds, just set them on fire, and the birds will find it hard to get close and will attack at random, and you can repel them. But last night, when we arrived late and we were blind, we could only protect ourselves. Third, the girl’s limbs were tightly bound and her mouth was gagged. If the birds were summoned by her, then the way she summoned them was too unexpected, and we must be cautious.‘
’Good. I will make the arrangements.’ Nanyi suddenly raised his voice and said, ’Come here, send the four brothers to rest, invite a famous doctor to treat their injuries. and carefully preserve the bodies of Abraham and Michael. ‘After saying this, Nanyi stood up and said to the four men, “Please, four brothers.”
The four men stood up, bowed, and withdrew.
Nanyi’s gaze slowly swept over the faces of the crowd, and he said solemnly, ’Brothers, the late wish of the old chairman Ablesov will be fulfilled tonight. In a few hours, our brothers will infiltrate University S and target a stone in the women’s toilets. Once the stone is destroyed, a massive flood will completely submerge China, cleansing the filthy country and drowning the inferior people in it. Then, the branches of our organisation will be able to convince the governments of the world to redistribute China’s land. It is anachronistic for an inferior race to occupy so much land.’
‘Yes, redraw the map of China.‘
’Eradicate inferior races.‘
In the video, the crowd was agitated, as if the destruction of China was a matter of seconds.
Luosan and the others were indignant as they watched.
’How dare the devils, do they think there is no one in China?‘ Yan Qingbo sneered.
’A bunch of clowns, destroy them,‘ said Professor Wu.
’Dream on if you want to destroy China,’ said Luosan.
‘Why hasn’t Liu Fufeng arrived yet?‘ Shen Yuan, however, seemed to be unconcerned.
’Liu Fufeng went to find her clan, so how could she possibly be here.‘
’I mean why hasn’t she arrived at Dongfang Bai’s mansion to drive the birds to action immediately.‘ Shen Yuan’s eyes also had a murderous aura.
’Stop arguing.’ Feng Yi suddenly pointed coldly at the computer and said, ’The Dragon Slaying Society is already arranging tonight’s operation.’
Sure enough, in the hall, Nanyi was telling everyone, ‘Tonight, our goal is to destroy the stone in the women’s bathroom of the Fourth Church. I will personally lead the operation to destroy it. The Northeast Asia Branch, Southeast Asia Branch, and West Asia Branch will accompany me. Brother Li Yuanhao, President of the Northeast Asia Branch, Lang Nuo, President of the Southeast Asia Branch, and Brother Joyce, President of the West Asia Branch, please lead your brothers to go all out. Also, each brother should bring a flamethrower, a gun, and a helmet. You three branches should select capable personnel to form a commando unit, and each member of the commando unit should be equipped with a ‘Type 1’ weapon. The operation will begin at 11:54 tonight.‘
’Type 1 weapon? Shit, so the stones in the stone circle were actually destroyed by the Dragon Slaying Society, and they framed the Tang Empire for it.‘
’Shh.’ A gust of wind.
Luo San continued to look at the computer and saw that Nanyi was still making arrangements: the South American branch, the Caribbean branch, and the Oceania branch were responsible for guarding the perimeter of the Four Teachings, so that not a single fly could fly in…
At that moment, Luo San saw Shen Yuan suddenly walk out. He didn’t care and continued to listen to Nanyi: the European branch, the North American branch, the North African branch, and the South African branch were setting up ambushes on all roads leading to the Four Teachings, and anyone who tried to get close to the Four Teachings would be killed without exception.
In the blink of an eye, Nan Yi had finished making arrangements, and the group was about to leave when someone suddenly stopped him: ‘Deputy Secretary-General, may I ask what the brothers in the Chinese branch are doing?’
‘They have an even more difficult task,’ Nan Yi said, suddenly looking up, ‘What’s that noise?’
It was birds, all kinds of birds, flocking into the hall from all directions. For a moment, the computer screen went black. Luo San could only hear cries, wails, and roars, followed by the sound of doors opening, people running, and things being hit. After a while, the sounds gradually died down and faded away. Luo saw on the computer screen that the entire hall was in a mess, with tables overturned and chairs tipped over. Dozens of bodies were lying among the mess, and there were many bird feathers and droppings scattered on the ground, along with the occasional corpse of a bird.
Luo remembered that there had been hundreds of people in the hall just now, but now there were only dozens lying on the ground, and he couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
Professor Wu, however, seemed to think otherwise: ‘Operation Xiao Liu was very quick. I don’t think that son of a bitch Nanyi will be able to launch his final battle tonight. A group of us birds have killed all their elites, dead or injured.’
For a long time, the content displayed on the computer screen never changed. Professor Wu anxiously said to Shen Yuan, ‘Girl, you immediately call Liu Fufeng and ask him how the situation is with the Dragon Slaying Society and whether they are still capable of fighting again tonight.’
Chapter 33: The decisive battle at Mount Buzhou
‘Damn, it’s not worth it, we actually let Nanyi escape,’ Luo San said angrily on the way to the Si Jiao. They had just learned from Liu Fufeng that six or seven of the people gathered by the Dragon Slaying Society in the Eastern White House compound had died, and the rest were also covered in wounds, except that Nan Yi had escaped. Luo San understood that as long as Nan Yi did not die, tonight’s operation to destroy the stone would go ahead as usual, and the action just now had instead given them a wake-up call. It would be even more difficult to deal with them next time.
It was already 11 o’clock, and it had been more than 20 minutes since Nan Yi had given the order to move. At Liu Fufeng’s request, Fengyi, Professor Wu, Shen Yuan, Luo San, Yan Qingbo and the others were rushing to Sijiao. Liu Fufeng’s reason was: ‘The Yue people are about to set up ambushes all around the area. If you want to watch the fun, go near Sijiao now, so that our people won’t accidentally hurt you.’
‘How could we be there just to watch? We are the key players.’ Luo San was indignant at Liu Fufeng’s words. But there was nothing he could do, because he would not be able to participate in the events of the night. He had asked everyone about mending the sky, but everyone seemed to be still afraid of going into the sea floor. Now that there was a chance to eliminate the saboteurs without going underground, naturally no one wanted to go underground again.
However, Luo San always had an ominous feeling, because Nan Qingyi seemed to have disappeared. At such an important juncture, where would Nan Qingyi, the Secretary-General of the Dragon Slaying Society, go? And as the host, what secret task did the people from the Chinese branch of the Dragon Club have? Luo San couldn’t figure it out.
At that moment, Liu Fufeng appeared, and by her side was a group of people, each holding a walkie-talkie in their hands.
Liu Fufeng smiled and said to the crowd, ‘Let’s go to the classroom and wait for the fun.’
‘Don’t we need to send someone to set up defenses?’
“Defenses? I’ve already set them up. I’ve strictly deployed them around the Four Teachings, exactly as Nanyi requested. Anyone who tries to enter will be killed. The entrances and exits to the Four Teachings are all blocked. Anyone who tries to enter will be killed.’ Liu Fufeng pointed at the men with walkie-talkies and said, ‘They will keep me informed of any developments. I will definitely make sure that none of them survives.’
At half past ten, Luo San heard screams coming from all directions outside the Sijiao. Listening to the screams, Luo San forced himself to resist the urge to rush forward and take a good look.
After a few minutes, the screams stopped.
‘Hey, everyone, report on what just happened?‘
’Yes, Bu Mo. The enemy has not yet entered our defensive zone, but they are screaming. At first we didn’t know what was going on, but then we discovered that there were a large number of snakes on all the roads leading to the Sijiao. The people of the Dragon Slaying Society were bitten as soon as they lifted their feet, and even if they weren’t bitten, the pythons would strangle them to death. So the people of the Dragon Slaying Society temporarily retreated.’
‘Hm. Very well. It seems that we have strong reinforcements joining us, so what are we afraid of? It’s just that this group of people driving the snakes, how did they know the Dragon Slaying Society’s plan?‘
’I’m the one who informed them,‘ Shen Yuan said.
’You informed them? When did you inform them? How did you get in contact with them?’ Luo San immediately asked a series of questions.
‘Although Mu Shigu and He Wangyu had both disappeared, I still called them. For some reason, they both answered the phone. So I told them about the arrangements of the Dragon Slaying Society and hoped that they would put national affairs first and send someone to support us.‘
’How did you know they were the ones driving the snake?‘
’I guessed.‘
’So they agreed?‘
’They both said that this was too dangerous and that they could not help.’
‘It seems that the two of them still don’t want to reveal their identities.‘
’Hmm.‘
’It’s just that which one of them is the one who drives the snakes?‘
’He Wangyu, I think. He Wangyu looks like an albino, and the totem of albinos is the snake, isn’t it?”
While everyone was talking, there was another commotion around the four schools.
It seems that the Dragon Slaying Society is making a comeback.
At that moment, the walkie-talkie in Liu Fufeng’s hand rang: ‘Bumu, it’s bad, the people from the Dragon Slaying Society have obtained a large amount of sulphur from somewhere, and the snakes are beginning to scatter and flee for their lives.’
‘Arrange for the birds to attack.’
The noise around them increased, and then Luo San saw countless flashes of light appear around the Four Teachings.
There was another voice on the walkie-talkie: ‘Bumo, the members of the Dragon Slaying Society are all wearing thick clothes and helmets, so the birds can’t do any damage to them. And each of them is equipped with a flamethrower, so the birds are suffering heavy casualties. Our defence line has been torn open.’
At that moment, Luo San heard screams coming from around the Si Jiao again.
‘What’s going on?’ asked Liu Fufeng.
‘Bu Mo, suddenly a large group of wild dogs appeared. Most of the people from the Dragon Slaying Society were blocked outside, but a small number of them still managed to break in. And the people from the Dragon Slaying Society used guns to shoot a large number of wild dogs. I’m afraid the dogs won’t be able to hold out for long.‘
’It’s okay, I’ll take care of them one by one. If they come in two, I’ll take care of them in pairs. Spread the word and throw the powder around. Oh, and you guys take this.’ The last sentence was directed at Luo San and the others.
‘What is this?‘ Luo San asked, looking at the small black pill in his hand.
’The antidote,‘ Liu Fufeng said.
’What antidote?‘
’Wait and you’ll see,’ Liu Fufeng said, looking out the window. Just then, a bolt of thunder split the night sky. Luo San saw a group of heavily armed men running quickly downstairs, and there seemed to be dozens of them. Luo San didn’t know what Liu Fufeng was going to do, so he just waited patiently.
Soon, Luo San heard someone shouting, ‘Why has it suddenly become so dark? Oh no, I can’t see, what’s going on?’ Then several other voices shouted that they couldn’t see. At that moment, another flash of lightning streaked across the night sky, and Luo San saw that some of the people from the Dragon Slaying Society were lying on the ground, gasping for breath, while others were stretching out their hands as if they were blind, feeling around.
‘What’s wrong with them?‘
’Some have contracted fowl plague, others night blindness. If you don’t take the antidote beforehand, you’ll be like them. Our Luo Yue tribe has the bird as its totem, and not only can we drive birds, we can also use the diseases of various birds to cause them trouble.’ Liu Fufeng said to a man beside him, ’You, take a few brothers and go down and give each of those guys a stab in the neck.’
Before Liu Fufeng finished speaking, Luo San saw the group of people from the Dragon Slaying Society suddenly stand up and run quickly outside in the lightening flash.
‘Impossible, they couldn’t have stood up or seen it,’ Liu Fufeng could hardly believe his own eyes, ‘Quick, you go after them and see what’s going on.’
Several men promised and chased after them.
After a while, an anxious voice came over the walkie-talkie: ‘Bu Mo, come to the lotus pond quickly, hurry, or it will be too late.’
‘Don’t worry, tell me what’s going on,’ Liu Fu Feng said to the person next to him, ‘send a few more brothers outside to follow them, we’ll wait here for now and see what happens.’
The man on the walkie-talkie told Liu Fufeng that the group from the Dragon Slaying Society had left the Four Teachings and were running quickly towards the lotus pond, which was not far away. In the centre of the lotus pond was an island with just one pavilion. Since no one could normally reach the island except the caretaker, the entire pavilion was now covered by dense shrubs and trees, only the top was exposed. At this moment, the hundreds of people from the Dragon Slaying Society formed a circle around the lotus pond and immediately pointed their fingers in the direction of the island in the centre of the pond. Hundreds of red flashes of light shot towards the island. Amidst the blinding red light, there was a deafening loud noise in the sky. Amidst the loud noise and red light, the island suddenly split in half, and a blue flash of light shot up into the sky, carrying the pavilion on the island up into the air. In the blue light, a swimming dragon spiralled upwards.‘ That’s it, the dragon vein, destroy the dragon vein, and all of China will be ours,’ Nanji shouted, ‘Brothers, let’s work hard!’ ‘Yes!’ There was a thunderous response all around.
Seeing this, several of Liu Fufeng’s clan members could no longer hold back. One of them immediately whistled, as if sending out a signal. Immediately, countless birds gathered in the sky above, dark as black clouds. As if at the same moment, the dark clouds turned into raindrops, pelting down on the group of men on the ground. The group on the ground immediately let out a series of screams, but soon they came to their senses and launched a counterattack. At the same time, more people pointed their fingers at the dragon, shooting streams of red light at its body. The giant dragon writhed in agony, as if it was about to collapse. ‘Bumo, bumo. We urgently need support here, or it will be too late,’ a man shouted into the phone as he saw the situation.
‘Bu Mo, send some reinforcements,’ the man urged, seeing that Liu Fu Feng had not yet made a decision.
Liu Fu Feng did not speak, and hesitated to nod: “I always feel that something is wrong, but I can’t think of what it is. My intuition tells me that we should continue to stay in the Four Teachings.” Suddenly, Liu Fu Feng seemed to remember something, biting her tongue and spitting out a mouthful of blood. The scene in front of her suddenly changed, and the group of people from Nanyi were suddenly standing in the same position as before.
‘Ghosts playing walls?’ Bu Mou understood that they had encountered a trick like ghosts playing walls. She never imagined that these guys could hypnotise such a large group of people. Liu Fu Feng couldn’t help but secretly get angry, vowing to show those people just how powerful she was. Thinking about this, she immediately whispered into the walkie-talkie, ’Those are all illusions. Those people are still in the same place and haven’t moved. Immediately execute our plan and finish them off.’
‘Yes.‘
At this moment, outside the four schools, the voice of Nanyi suddenly sounded, “Friends of the Yue people, can you please show yourself and have a chat. We are here only to seize the Han people’s land, and it has nothing to do with you Yue people, so why do you have to get involved? After we have seized the Han world, the Yue people can naturally establish an independent country.”
’Fuck you,’ Liu Fufeng cursed, ’You want to destroy the Han people and seize China’s land, but if you succeed, will there still be a place for us Chinese people? You’re more likely to deceive a ghost. Besides, the Xia Dynasty, the first dynasty of China, was established by our Yue people. Nowadays, 90% of the people in China have Yue blood running through their veins. Don’t even think about driving a wedge between my Yue people and the Han people. Come quickly and die.‘
’I’m afraid it’s you who will die,’ just then, a voice sounded behind him. Luo San looked back and saw that the person was Nan Qingyi, and there were nearly a hundred people behind him.
Luo San had not yet reacted when he heard screams coming from all around him. Nan Qingyi’s men had moved in, and that was Luo San’s first reaction. But soon, he realised that something was wrong. Another group of people in black appeared in the darkness. They were like ghosts, dashing left and right in the crowd. Nan Qingyi’s men fell one after the other amid screams.
‘Quick, shoot,’ Nan Qingyi shouted, but he soon realised that there were very few people left around him. The remaining people had not even had time to raise their guns before they collapsed.
The 20 or so people who were left eventually formed a circle and fired their guns in all directions. Luo San noticed that Nan Qingyi had disappeared.
At that moment, a loud thunderclap split the sky and fell on the top of the Four Teachings. Professor Wu was shocked and exclaimed, ‘No good, someone is doing something bad to the Eye of the Sea.’
When the group arrived at the women’s toilet of the Four Teachings, they found a man already collapsed at the entrance of the invisible door.
‘What happened? Tell me quickly,’ asked Liu Fufeng anxiously as he helped the man up, not noticing the several bullet holes in the man’s body, from which air was already escaping. After gathering his strength for a long time, he said with difficulty, ‘There are several guns inside… pointing at the door, and once you go in, you’ll be shot…’
‘Dead.’ Liu Fu Feng put down the corpse, stood up, and said to the people around him, “Go, pick up some guns.”
Soon, several clan members picked up several guns from the hands of the people from the Dragon Slaying Society. Liu Fu Feng didn’t even look at them and said to the crowd, “You, immediately start shooting inside, and finish all the bullets.”
Several clan members immediately picked up their guns and shot at the invisible door.
No bullets came out from inside, and no one appeared. Luo San and the others did not know what had happened inside.
‘Let’s go in and take a look,’ Luo San suggested.
Liu Fu Feng pondered for a moment and agreed. Luo San was the first to go in, but as soon as he stuck his head in, he felt a coolness on his forehead, and a gun was already pressed against his forehead. He hurriedly waved the hand that was still outside the ‘door’ to indicate that everyone should not follow. However, Shen Yuan still followed.
Several people were lying on the floor of the toilet, leaving only Nan Qingyi and three others. Two of them were holding guns on Luo San and Shen Yuan respectively, while the other was holding a ‘Type 1’ weapon in his hand, shooting streams of white light that kept landing on the stones in Haiyan Town. Nan Qingyi, on the other side, was violently shaking the Shanshan Dodo. The Shanshan Dodo shook silently, and the huge stones began to shake violently, and the crack in the middle slowly widened. Nan Qingyi said to Luo and Shen as he shook the rattle, ‘You’ve come. Don’t bother. In any case, Chengdu will be destroyed and the flood will inundate China.’
Luo San was shocked to see this situation. However, he was now at the mercy of others and could only watch helplessly as they destroyed the stone of Haiyan Town. Under the effect of the dispelling mountain bell, one after another, lightning flashes flashed across the sky. The giant stone swayed more and more violently, and the crack on the stone also widened to half a foot wide. It looked as if the whole stone was about to crack completely.
At that moment, Luo San heard another kind of bell sound. It was a very peculiar sound, and he had never heard this kind of bell before.
As Luo San listened, he saw Nan Qingyi stop holding the Shuyangyi in his hand, pull out a gun, and fire three shots. The other members of the Dragon Slaying Society in the women’s bathroom fell to the ground in response, and Nan Qingyi then pointed the gun at one of his arms and shot himself in the leg.
‘Xiao Sanzi, quickly, go find them and bring the rope,’ Shen Yuan called out as he looked at Luo San, who was in a daze.
In a moment, the rope came in. Shen Yuan had Nan Qingyi bound, and then said to Luo San, who looked doubtful, ‘A few days ago, I put the medicine for controlling the corpse in his bowl and let him eat it, so that I could control him with the bell.’
‘I see. Thanks to you, otherwise the sea eye formation stone would not have been preserved. We must enter the water as soon as possible to repair the sky.”
Nan Qingyi and the others had ready-made diving equipment. Luo San, Feng Yi, Professor Wu, and Shen Yuan were all dressed and immediately went back into the water.
Chapter 34 Repairing the Sky
To mend the sky, they must find the five-coloured stone, which should be on the three immortal mountains.
After arriving underwater, the group immediately headed for the three immortal mountains, hoping to find the ancient Nuwa Heavenly Mending Platform and the five-coloured stone. However, after searching the two islands, the four of them still came up empty-handed. Meanwhile, the sky above them suddenly grew dark. Looking up, the sky was not dark with clouds, but had suddenly grown dark. At the same time, there was a rumble in the sky. After a while, they heard a loud noise in the distant sky. Looking up, they saw a crack in the sky above them. From the crack, a green rock appeared. ‘The sky is splitting open,’ Luo San immediately thought of an ancient legend in his family, but soon, he had no time to care about this matter, because he knew that it must be the formation stone of the sea eye that had gone wrong, causing this anomaly.
Looking at the ever-widening crack above their heads, the four of them knew that their last hope lay on the third island. If they couldn’t find the Wusese Stone, the tragedy that had happened thousands of years ago would repeat itself. Luo San’s heart was racing. After all, the burden of mending the heavens and saving China was too heavy for him. Under this endless pressure, Luo San and the others arrived at the top of the last island. This was the fairy island with a tall mountain peak, where Luo San and the others had once hidden from the whirlpool of the Returnless Abyss.
When the group arrived on the island, they looked around, but saw nothing at the foot of the mountain. Not to mention the Five-Coloured Stone, they couldn’t even see a single stone. And in the pit at the top of the mountain, which they had seen when they took refuge there last time, there was no Five-Coloured Stone at all.
‘Did we not look carefully enough?‘ Shen Yuan asked after searching the area.
Feng Yi shook his head and said, “It’s not our problem, we looked carefully enough. If there were a five-coloured stone on this island, it would definitely not escape our eyes.”
’Then is Professor Wu’s deduction wrong, and the five-coloured stone is not on these three islands at all,’ Luo San hesitated, ’but on the other two islands that have sunk to the bottom of the sea?’
‘My speculation cannot be wrong,’ Professor Wu said confidently. “There must be somewhere else that we haven’t noticed.” Professor Wu looked around, trying to find evidence that proved he wasn’t wrong. However, there was nothing around the mountain peaks. But he still searched around without giving up, muttering to himself, ’It must be around here, it must be.’
Luo San shook his head helplessly and said to Shen Yuan, ‘Help look for it, otherwise he won’t give up.’ Shen Yuan was about to nod in agreement when he heard Professor Wu let out a scream. The three hurriedly rushed towards Professor Wu, but saw that the place where Professor Wu had just been standing was already enveloped in a drifting black layer of sediment, and Professor Wu was nowhere to be seen.
‘What’s going on? Did we encounter a monster?‘ The three of them thought this, and immediately shouted around, “Professor Wu, where are you?”
’I’m here, I fell into a pit,‘ Luo San heard Professor Wu’s voice next to him, coming from the black mud, so he carefully walked towards the mud. Before he got there, he saw Professor Wu already walking out of the mud.
’I fell into a pit and stirred up all the mud in it,’ Professor Wu explained to the group, ‘This pit must have a name.’
In a moment, the mud and sand dispersed, and the group could finally see that it was a pit only the size of a person. It seems that it had originally been completely buried by the mud and sand, so the group had not seen it before. However, no one could see why Professor Wu said that the pit must have a name. They were about to ask Professor Wu, but saw him fumbling around the edge of the pit, constantly wiping away the mud and sand around the pit.
‘I said this pit has a name, and it definitely does. It’s definitely the pictographic language of Bashu,’ Professor Wu said to the crowd, pointing to the pattern exposed next to the pit.
Upon hearing Professor Wu’s words, Feng Yi immediately swam to the top and read it carefully. After a long time, he swam to the other side of the pit, carefully feeling around. In a moment, he seemed to feel something, and carefully wiped away the dirt on the surface. The crowd saw that it was a fist-sized semicircular stone. Feng Yi stared at the stone for a long time before looking up and telling the crowd that the mechanism for mending the sky was here.
Feng Yi did not continue, but instead pondered for a long time before gritting his teeth and pressing down on the semicircular stone. The next second, Luo San felt an immediate loud roar in his ears, followed by a violent shaking of the ground beneath his feet. Then a loud noise came from the mountain peak next to him. Feng Yi looked up and saw countless streams of mud spurting from the top of the mountain. At that moment, the island under their feet suddenly rushed forward. ‘It’s exactly the same as the record above,’ Feng Yi said, ‘it seems that the whole island is going to fly to the hole in the sky.’ Sure enough, the island flew straight towards the distant sky.
‘Professor Wu, is this island also high-tech?’ Luo San asked in puzzlement, looking at the rapidly advancing island.
‘Yes. And I’m afraid it’s a far more advanced technology than what people on Earth have mastered. That island is man-made,’ said Professor Wu. ’Not only that island, but all the islands and cities are as well. As for the Jiujiu Yin we saw and the earthen walls that grow when they come into contact with water, they are also the products of high technology. Even the mountains and stone stalagmites are part of a huge machine. Nüwa mending the sky was actually just mending a machine.’
After Professor Wu finished speaking, he let out a long sigh. There was no trace of the usual joy one feels upon discovering a great secret. After a long while, he spoke again: ‘Alas, what is the point of saying that man will conquer nature? In the end, we realise that nature is simply an incredibly advanced machine.’
Everyone was silent for a moment.
Soon, they arrived at the ‘Chengdu’.
Looking at the ‘Chengdu’ in front of them, Luo San could hardly believe his eyes. When he saw this mountain a few hours ago, there was just a small crack in the middle, but at this time, the entire mountain had become an inverted V-shaped. How wide the bottom had cracked open to, because it had sunk into the bottomless sea, Luo San could not see . However, close to the sky, the mountain was split open for hundreds of metres. The sky had a huge hole in it where the mountain had cracked open, and around the hole were cracks running horizontally and vertically in all directions, intersecting with the impure, colourful sky.
‘A hole in the sky. A hole in the sky. Sure enough, there is a hole in the sky,’ Professor Wu muttered to himself. ’Do you know, I have always wondered why the myth of Nüwa mending the sky would say that there is a hole in the sky, because no matter what, there is no way the sky can have a hole in it. Now I understand. In the bowels of Nüwa, the sky can really be broken open.’
Luosan looked at ‘Chengdu’ and thought about how the Haian Town Stone had cracked open just a small crack back then, causing the Diexi earthquake. At this time, he couldn’t help but anxiously ask, ‘This mountain is connected to the Haian Town Stone, and it has cracked open like this. I wonder what kind of things will happen on the ground? We have to think of something quickly.’
‘Don’t worry, isn’t Uncle Feng about to mend the sky?’ Shen Yuan comforted.
The island was suspended below the huge hole in the sky. Feng Yi told the others, ‘It’s going to get pretty loud. You should leave and come back for me in a while.’
‘Are you sure you can do it alone? Let’s all four of us do it together,’ Luo San said, worried.
Feng Yi shook his head and said, ‘It is written here that only one person can be present when the sky is mended, otherwise it will be a disaster. I am from Qiongdu, and my ancestors lived here, so this matter is best left to me. You should leave here quickly.’
‘Okay, then hurry up and get started. We’ll wait for you on the side,’ said Luo San, and he swam to the side, followed by Professor Wu and Shen Yuan.
After swimming to the side, Luo San looked towards the island, but saw Fengyi leap into the pit in front of him. The entire pit was only a person’s height, and Fengyi jumped into it, just level with the top of the pit. Fengyi raised his hand, reached out of the pit, and gently placed it on the orb. For a long time, he did not press down.
He thought for a moment, then looked up and said into the walkie-talkie to Luo San and the others, ‘All the five-coloured stones are stored on this island. Just press the sphere, and the five-coloured stones stored within will melt and spew into the sky like a volcanic eruption, thus repairing the sky. This is how the sky is repaired. There are only enough five-coloured stones on this island to repair it once, and the person who repairs the sky must sacrifice themselves in order to do so…’
‘What? Brother Feng, don’t be so stupid.”
Feng Yi didn’t reply, and the next second, everyone could only see the tall mountain on the island suddenly erupting in flames, and then the entire island began to rise, reaching up to the sky. In no time, a stream of fiery red lava spewed from the mountain, shooting up into the sky and gradually filling the hole in the sky, while the lava flowed down the cracks in the sky. At the same time, ‘Chengdu’ also began to rapidly close, gradually closing together, leaving only a small gap, which was also filled by the lava.
Slowly, the island began to sink. Professor Wu looked at the island that was slowly sinking beneath the water and said, ‘Brother Feng, thank you. I know that you are now with the heavens and with Chengdu. You are now one with them. Thank you. We will come visit you often in the future.’
When they returned to the surface, Luo San noticed that the rain had stopped. In the sky, a full moon shone silver light on the earth, and everything around them was illuminated. The group of black-clad men had not yet left, and were carrying the bodies on the ground one by one to the women’s toilet and throwing them into the sea. Seeing Luo San and the others, the leader of the group bowed to them and said, ‘Kang Changsheng, the Governor of Yizhou in the Great Tang Empire, greets you all. I would like to thank you for your efforts on behalf of the Great Tang Empire. I am to convey to you all that in the future, whenever there is a need for the Tang Empire, the millions of soldiers and civilians of the empire are at your service. As for the remnants of the Dragon Slaying Society, I have already arranged to mobilise manpower from all states to eradicate them. I believe that a few clowns will be unable to make a comeback.‘
’Director Kang, I would like to ask why the Tang Empire is involved in this matter, and I would also like to ask, what organisation are you exactly?’ Professor Wu suddenly spoke up.
‘Our empire is a descendant of the Great Tang Empire. For a thousand years, we have yearned for the glory of the Tang Empire, but the spirit of the people has become corrupt. As for the reason for getting involved in this matter, there is no need for a reason. As descendants of the Yellow Emperor, we should do this, shouldn’t we?‘
At that moment, the two men escorted Nan Qingyi over. Professor Wu then asked, “May I ask the Governor, what are you going to do with this kid?”
’Kill him to appease the world and console the spirits of those who died tragically 57 years ago.’
‘How is he related to what happened 57 years ago? What exactly happened 57 years ago?‘ Luo San asked.
Kang Changsheng said, “This story has to start with Dongfang Hanqing. I think you already know about Dongfang Hanqing, right? After he obtained the ”Guye Dujing’ from the Tongmenghui, he has been swindling people everywhere. First, he offered Jinbo to the empire, and the late emperor bestowed upon him the titles of Yizhou Governor, Commander-in-Chief of the Jiangnan Army, and Duke of Ying. The aim was to get him to quickly discover the secrets of Jinbo, so that measures could be taken to protect the lifeblood of our country. Unfortunately, this man was ambitious and wanted not just the title of Duke of Ying, but the whole world. So he sent his son Dongfang Muyi to Xinjiang with a copy of the ‘Guye Du Jing’ (ancient book of alchemy), hoping to use it as a stepping stone to seize control of Xinjiang with the help of the Soviets. In this way, once he had discovered the secrets of the ‘Guye Du Jing’, he could control China on his own. He just didn’t expect that after the Soviets obtained the Jinbai, they wanted to kill Dongfang Muyi, who had no choice but to flee. After this failed, Dongfang Hanqing was not disheartened, and sent Dongfang Muyi to collude with the Japanese to smuggle Japanese biochemical weapons into Chengdu. He hoped to achieve control of Chengdu through these biochemical weapons. One day later, a strange fog suddenly appeared in the fourth teaching building of Sichuan University, causing heavy casualties. Later, the government took strong measures to stop this, and a major disaster was averted. However, Li Zhi Ming, the head of the Qionglai Daoyin Sect, left a prophecy that said 57 years later, someone from the southeast would come and the evil would rise again. At first, we thought the someone from the southeast was the group from Mount Wuyi, but it turned out to be this kid. He is exactly from the southeast, and his real name is Dongfang Qingyi, the descendant of Dongfang Hanqing. The Dongfang family and the Dragon Slaying Society resumed their cooperation 15 years ago. The Dongfang Qingyi’s bargaining chip for this deal was that after the job was done, the Dongfang family could control the entire southwestern region. Of course, the Dongfang family’s ambitions did not end there. It was only because the Dongfang family had not made any progress in their research on the ‘Guye Du Jing’ that recently, Dongfang Bai finally discovered part of the secret of the Du Jing and quickly informed the Dragon Slaying Society of this secret. His Imperial Highness the King of Qi, upon learning of this, immediately killed Dongfang Bai, but by this time the Dragon Slaying Society had already begun to move. In order to better keep track of their movements, His Imperial Highness the King of Qi ordered us to evacuate Dongfang Bai’s residence in the west of the city. Sure enough, the Dragon Slaying Society thought that our Great Tang Empire was incompetent and took the residence for themselves. What they didn’t expect was that we had their every move under control, including the fact that your policeman installed a camera in the residence, and we knew about it. If that wasn’t the case, how could we be here tonight waiting for the dragon hunters?’ Kang Changsheng said, kicking Nan Qingyi hard. Nan Qingyi grimaced in pain, but still smiled.
Seeing this, Kang Changsheng couldn’t help but become furious: “Come here, kill him. Fill it with the sea eye.”
In no time at all, the members of the Dragon Slaying Society, including Nan Qingyi, were all thrown into the sea eye. Kang Changsheng said hello to everyone and left.
Luo San watched the group go away. At that moment, he saw Shen Yuan pull him from behind. He looked back and saw the figure of Mu Shigu flash past on the road outside the Four Teachings. In the other direction, He Wangyu was also gradually growing further and further away. After they left, the dogs and snakes dispersed.
Shen Yuan’s eyes were red, and Luo San knew that she had seen the dogs and thought of Xiao Ziyu again. He was about to comfort her, but she whispered, ‘Ziyu, maybe they think that everyone investigating what happened 57 years ago is someone who wants to do harm to the country. Forgive them from the nine graves.’
Chapter 35: Epilogue
One day later, the members of the school’s Paranormal Society gathered in the wide alley in the west of the city to celebrate their success in stopping the Dragon Slaying Society’s plot. The wide alley is located in the former Shao City area, where Zhang Yi built the Chengdu City. Luo San knew that it was the demolition of the Shao City walls that triggered the ‘Chengdu’ crisis. Therefore, the choice of location for today’s gathering also had extra significance. Professor Wu was also invited to the gathering, but Mu Shigu and He Wangyu did not show up.
‘Maybe they didn’t want to show up because their identities had been revealed,‘ said Luo San.
’Hmm. That’s probably it,’ said Professor Wu, analysing the situation. ’He Wangyu is an albino. I think it’s very likely that he is the white man living in the underground ocean. Because they know about the Eye of the Sea, they came to Chengdu with the aim of protecting it. As for what Mu Shigu’s identity is, I really don’t know. But I think they are like me, people carrying a heavy burden of fate. Their aim is to protect Chengdu.’
‘I also have a question. Why did the albinos commit the serial murders?‘ “The albinos didn’t do it. The case was done by the Dragon Slaying Society,” Yan Qingbo said.
’What was their purpose then?’
‘Blame the albinos so that Musigu and the others can attack them. I think the incident with the red horse rider was a warning from Musigu and the others. The Dragon Slaying Society knows that the albinos are an obstacle, so they want to use other forces to contain them.‘
’Damn this Dragon Slaying Society,’ said Luo San.
‘They have been severely weakened by the combined forces of Xiaoliu’s clan and the Great Tang Empire, and have been uprooted at least domestically. I believe they are unlikely to be able to do anything more.‘ Yan Qingbo said, lifting his teacup in the air and saying to the group, “Come, let’s drink tea in celebration of the successful completion of the great undertaking of stopping the Dragon Slaying Society’s conspiracy.”
’Good.’
Suddenly, a sad look appeared on Professor Wu’s face. He took his teacup to the roadside and slowly poured the water from the teacup onto the ground. ‘Brother Feng, thank you. I toast you today with tea instead of wine. This is Shu Tao tea, the best tea in Chengdu. I toast you with a cup of tea, hoping that you can bless “Chengdu” to remain safe forever and that the waves of Shu Sea will never rise again.’
For a moment, everyone stopped talking, and they went to the side of the road and poured their cups of tea onto the ground.
It was 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and there seemed to be a quietness from the depths of history in the depths of the narrow, wide alley, isolating the noisy sounds of cars and people outside the alley.